Ryan Mason slams questionable VAR call after Tottenham lose to Leeds United
As quoted by the club’s official website, Tottenham Hotspur interim manager Ryan Mason has hit out at the questionable VAR call made during the team’s 3-1 loss to Leeds United at Elland Road.
Tottenham’s hopes of securing a top four finish in the Premier League pretty much ended following the disheartening loss to the Whites on Saturday. The home team made the brighter start to the contest and were in front just 13 minutes in through Stuart Dallas. However, Spurs showed good spirit to come back as Son Heung-min equalised in the 25th minute.
With the scoreline at 1-1, Tottenham superstar Harry Kane put the ball into the back of the net only for it to be chalked off for offside by the VAR when it did not look like the England captain had strayed into an offside position.
Was Harry Kane onside or offside? 🤔 #LEETOT pic.twitter.com/8rq6n07bko
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) May 8, 2021
Soon after that Patrick Bamford put Leeds back in front. Both teams had chances in the second half with Kane hitting the post and the likes of Serge Aurier and Erik Lamela being denied by their goalkeeper while Hugo Lloris made some fine stops to keep us in the game. However, a late strike from Rodrigo Moreno killed the game.
Speaking after the match, Mason questioned the officiating, insisting he couldn’t fathom why Kane’s goal in the first half was chalked off.
“They started better than us, they were bright, got the lead and we responded well, scored a good goal ourselves and at 1-1, there was an offside decision, and it’s amazing what things like that can do in terms of the momentum of the game.”
Mason did go on to insist that the team wasn’t as clinical as they needed to be in the final third.
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The match officiating, as poor as it was, is not something under the team’s control. Despite the offside call, it would be fair to say that the team wasn’t good enough to deserve all three points on the afternoon. If not for Lloris, the scoreline could have looked much worse.
As for the VAR decisions, over the course of the season, many teams have had to suffer the brunt of poor calls from on-field referees as well as the VAR. So, it is high time steps were taken to rectify the system.
