Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli’s reputation was ruined further after the midfielder was again accused of diving following his appeals for a penalty in the club’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
The match was locked at 0-0 in the 74th minute when the 21-year-old went to ground easily after slightest of touches from Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.
However, Harry Kane breached Palace’s resistance in the 88th minute but the 1-0 win at Selhurst Park was overshadowed by Alli’s blatant dive.
Before Sunday’s game, Palace boss Roy Hodgson had dismissed suggestions the midfielder was a diver. Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino also defended his player after the 1-0 victory at Selhurst Park.
“He is an easy target for everyone. We need to stop saying too much about him to stop helping people, the fans, creating this reputation,” Pochettino was quoted by Daily Mail.
“He’s so competitive and played very well but Dele is an easy target.
“Dele is such a special kid. He’s going to play. He’s going to show his quality. He won’t worry what people are saying about him.”
Asked about Alli’s penalty decision, which went against him, the boss added:
“For me, the action of Hennessey on Ben Davies was a clear penalty.”
Hodgson, who was disappointed with the loss, explained:
“He only had the option to go down.”
“The way our defenders defend the situation, he had to go down to avoid them. I don’t think he was looking for a penalty.
“(The crowd getting agitated is) what happens when all the talk in the massed media is about players diving: the public jump on the bandwagon to get as much advantage as they can.”
This was the latest in a long line of diving incidents involving Alli, who has drawn a fair amount of criticism from all the corners of the footballing fraternity.
Indeed, diving is a crime and Alli just needs to be careful and play his game with vigour and energy which he usually does. It will take time for the 21-year-old to wipe out his ‘diver’ image from the people’s minds. Alli is a fantastic player and just needs to consistently deliver the goods for Spurs before he can be termed as world-class.
