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#3 Should Toney’s goal have stood?
It seems almost cliché to be discussing an offside-based VAR decision once again. But Brentford fans would probably find it hard not to be aggrieved about tonight’s loss to Tottenham. With just over 20 minutes of the game remaining, Ivan Toney thought he’d brought the match level – only for the controversial system to chalk his goal off.
Judging by the replay, it looked like at worst, Toney’s knee was further forward than Moussa Sissoko’s foot. However, there were centimeters in the decision and the striker was attempting to get to his feet at the time, forcing his knee forward in the process.
Essentially, in the pre-VAR days, this would’ve been a perfectly acceptable goal caused largely by some suspect defending from Tottenham from a set-piece. By the letter of the law, Toney was offside, but the offside rule was brought in to stop attackers from gaining an unfair advantage – hardly the case here.
At some stage, surely common sense must kick in and bring a halt to these decisions. When VAR was introduced, the idea was to prevent referees from making clear and obvious errors – not to chalk off goals due to attackers being a matter of centimeters offside. This was just the latest example of the system at its very worst.
#4 Tottenham were back on form – making them a dangerous prospect for Premier League opposition
After four largely disappointing performances in a row – including two losses – many observers had begun to write off Tottenham’s Premier League title hopes. Tottenham showed flashes of their best form in their 3-0 win against Leeds United at the weekend, but tonight’s match was another step forward.
Tottenham’s defenders managed to shut down a very dangerous Brentford attack – restricting them to three shots on target from eleven attempts. In attack, Jose Mourinho’s side looked fluid and dangerous and could’ve had more than their two goals.
Tanguy Ndombele, in particular, looked excellent, and it was notable that for the first time this season, the Frenchman was able to complete 90 minutes without being substituted.
Based on tonight’s performance – as well as that Leeds win – Tottenham could be getting back to their best form at just the right time as the fixtures begin to really pile up. If Tottenham can reproduce this kind of showing and defeat Aston Villa next week, which won’t be easy, then the title challenge could definitely be back on.
#5 Josh Dasilva’s red card puts a black mark on Brentford’s performance
Brentford should probably walk away from tonight’s loss to Tottenham with their heads held high. Unfortunately, Thomas Frank’s side ended the game under a bit of a black cloud following a red card for midfielder Josh Dasilva.
The incident in question saw Dasilva involved in a seemingly innocuous coming-together with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg that referee Mike Dean initially missed. However, VAR then advised Dean to check his monitor, and the replay showed that the incident was not innocuous at all.
In reality, Dasilva had caught Hojbjerg with a horrific lunge that could easily have broken the Dane’s leg. In the end, the Tottenham midfielder was left with a trio of nasty gashes on his left leg – and was quickly substituted afterward. VAR quite rightly advised Dean to show Dasilva the red card.
In a game that’d seen the worst from VAR with the offside call on Toney, this was an example of how the system should work. Dean missed the incident through no fault of his own, was shown it on a replay, and the right call was then made.
It was an unfortunate end to Dasilva’s game, as he’d looked really good in the first half. And of course, it was his goal against Newcastle United that put Brentford into this match in the first place.
The young midfielder likely didn’t mean to harm Hojbjerg, as there didn’t appear to be malice in the challenge. But hopefully, he’ll learn from this incident that you can’t lunge over the top of the ball like that.
Overall, though, the incident left an unfortunate black mark on what was a pretty impressive performance from the Bees.
