Tottenham Hotspur’s Emerson Royal slammed for ’embarrassing’ moment in Chelsea win
Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock has slammed Tottenham Hotspur defender Emerson Royal for his role in Hakim Ziyech’s initial sending-off in Spurs’ 2-0 win against Chelsea this weekend.
Spurs recorded a momentous victory in N17 against their arch-rivals courtesy of second-half goals from Oliver Skipp and Harry Kane. Emerson, who has started in four out of our five games in February despite Pedro Porro’s arrival in January, was brilliant.
He was solid in defence and made important contributions from the right-hand side whenever the team went forward. The former Barcelona right-back had a weak shot saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga in the 46th minute which inadvertently led to Spurs’ opener.
But it was his involvement in an altercation with Ziyech in first-half stoppage time that caught everyone’s attention. He barged into the former Ajax star’s back while the play was stopped.
Emerson branded ‘pathetic’ for red card incident
He was shown a yellow card for it alongside Kai Havertz while Ziyech escaped punishment for slapping Emerson in the face in retaliation. Referee Stuart Attwell took his time and upon conversation with the linesman, showed a red card to Ziyech.
He was headed for the showers before a VAR check came up on the jumbotron, and after a lengthy check, his red card was reverted to a yellow. The decision enraged Spurs fans and players alike.
It didn’t matter for much as we went on to win the game fair and square against 11-men Chelsea. Now, Warnock has offered his scathing verdict on Emerson’s antics. He told Sky Sports (as relayed by @FootballDaily on Twitter):
“I thought it was embarrassing from Emerson Royal. I was so angry when I saw it. I am thinking, you’re on VAR now… everyone can see what you’re doing. To go down off that… he instigates the whole thing, running in and banging into the back of Ziyech.
“If it was the other way around, he would have hit the deck and gone down. Ziyech just took it, turned around and shoves him, and catches him. The way he hit the ground, I’m thinking what are you trying to instigate? I thought it was pathetic from Emerson Royal. I was made up it got overturned. Straight away I thought you have tried to kid the ref here. I was furious.”
Sometimes, players have to exaggerate contact to get referees to notice an offence. Emerson did barge into Ziyech’s back, but the Chelsea playmaker’s reaction to slap him was clearly unacceptable.
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Perhaps our fanbase would have had a much more passionate view of this incident if we didn’t go on and embarrassed Chelsea in the second half. Three points are all that matter.
