The North Londoners had an exemplary outing filled with lots of belief last weekend as Tottenham Hotspur succumbed to a 1-0 defeat against Manchester City, which marked the end of a three-game Premier League winning streak for Ange Postecoglou’s side. It was a game where the Lilywhites showed a lot of heart, but they struggled to get the final action right.

The only goal of the fixture came from Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland, who found the net past Guglielmo Vicario in the 12th minute.

Tottenham falls short against Man City despite spirited performance

The game started with the Lilywhites on the backfoot with City dominating the ball in the early stages, and with a sustained possession came a few opportunities for Pep Guardiola’s side, but Viacio’s antics ensured that the North Londoners went into halftime with just a one-goal trail. And the Australian head coach tinkered a few things to ensure that the players emerge with renewed determination from the tunnel.

Then, there started a flow of opportunities for Tottenham, with summer signing Wilson Odobert coming close just ten minutes into the second half. It was followed by consecutive opportunities for Brennan Johnson and Mathys Tel, who also failed to find the back of the net. And as Postocoglou was right frustrated on the sidelines came the most significant missed opportunity for the hosts in stoppage time when a cross from Pedro Porro deflected off Son Heung-min’s back and fell to Pape Matar Sarr and with a goal to target he headed the ball over the bar.

But when the game was about to be concluded, Haaland appeared to score a second goal for the visitors, but it was disallowed after a lengthy VAR check, which in turn gave way to a prolonged stoppage time that went into the ninth minute, and this decision sparked protests from players donning the Lilywhites badge, particularly the skipper Son, who was notably involved in a heated exchange with referee Jarred Gillet.

Son Heung-Min’s heated exchange with referee sparks debate

And after the game, we saw a lot of criticism directed towards the South Korean for his behaviour towards the referee, and former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett insists that the 32-year-old may end up having repercussions, saying that he was fortunate to escape a yellow card for those sustained protests. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Tottenham News, Hackett said:

“Jarred Gillet has delivered two very good performances in recent days. His movement and maintaining contact with play throughout was excellent and his decision-making was made with confidence.”

“His judgement about that handball and disallowed goal was perhaps the only point that I would make any comment about. He decided that a handball had taken place and ruled out a Man City goal.

“The Spurs players should look at themselves and I hope that the referee will include in his report the behaviour of Son, who was rather fortunate to escape a sanction for his clear and sustained protest.

“Did Son not see that a goal by Manchester City had been ruled out by Gillet?

“If he was protesting about the amount of time added on he should read Law 5. It states that the referee is the sole timekeeper.

“I feel Son was clutching at straws in this one. I would have liked Gillet to have shown him a yellow card in order for him to re-assert his authority.”

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Well, the protests were right given how Tottenham were continually knocking on the doors, and maybe with another attack, they could have gotten their goal.