Tottenham Hotspur returned to Premier League action earlier today, and not so without some controversy. In a London derby where you expect every margin to be fine given the high pressure to get a positive result, there was another questionable decision made in the first half at London Stadium.
The North Londoners get into the game following a fine start to the 2025/26 season. And Thomas Frank & Co. were travelling away to West Ham, which was always going to be a tricky tie.
West Ham have had their ups and downs along the new season. Graham Potter is still pushing his feet into the ground as this Hammers side are still looking to click in that high-possession playing style.
But they came out today looking to get a result and push Tottenham as much. And in the first half that concluded on a nil-all scoreline, many Lilywhites faithful would argue it should have been different.
Romero should have had his goal stood
We saw the visitors grab a lead from Cristian Romero’s header, which was cancelled. But when you look and follow that goal again, you see how the Argentine World Cup winner should have been on the score sheets. It was not a foul there. Their keeper is pushing one of the players, who falls into Micky van de Ven. In fact, many would argue it should have gone the other way around with a Tottenham penalty if the goal didn’t stand.
And that’s exactly what former Everton and Swansea defender Ashley Williams thinks as well. Speaking on Match of the Day (as relayed by BBC), he argued about the scratched goal.
He said:
Cristian Romero’s goal should have stood. West Ham’s goalkeeper pushes his own player into Micky Van der Ven, who then collides with Kyle Walker-Peters but the Tottenham player didn’t initiate that contact.
We’ve watched it back numerous times and you can see he doesn’t push Walker-Peters over.
The referee has given the decision on the field and because of that VAR is reluctant to intervene but that’s what they’re there for. We’d like to see more goals given and it’s the wrong decision, which is frustrating.
Author Opinion
A lot of this makes you question how competent VAR is alongside those who are using it.
Football is a contact sport, and there would be contact; it is about determining if that contact in the context is over the line. And to us as well as Ashley Williams, that was definitely not. That goal from Romero in the first half should have stood. And if you are finding a way to scratch it off, look at the situation for a possible pen, the push from Mads Hermansen in a way, could be looked at as a possible foul on Van de Ven given how the Dutchman didn’t initiate the contact.
Do you think refs got the decision right? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
