Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou says it was “the angriest he’s ever been in his career” after he fumed at Newcastle’s controversial 2-1 scoreline against Spurs.
Anthony Gordon’s sixth-minute goal for Newcastle equalized after the ball hit Joelinton’s hand, but VAR allowed the goal to stand because “his hand was on the side, in a natural position, and the contact was accidental”.
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean agreed with the decision Football week as Joelinton’s alleged handball “just didn’t lead to a goal” after the deflection went to Bruno Guimaraes, who then set up Gordon.
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Former Premier League referee Mike Dean insists Newcastle’s equalizer at Tottenham was rightly allowed to stand.
But a furious Postecoglou was “angry” and “disappointed” without directly commenting on Joelinton’s handball call.
Asked to comment on Gordon’s equalizer at his post-match press conference, Postecoglou said: fair and even pitch we would have won that game.
“And don’t ask me about the decision. If you guys don’t have an opinion about it, I know what I think. If it was a different day and it was a fair game, we would have won in that game.”
He added: “Considering everything we’ve had to go through and the situation we’re in now to perform like this, I take my hat off to the players. I thought they were great.
“I’m really, really angry, as angry as I’ve ever been in my career, that they were denied the right rewards for a fantastic performance.”
When asked if he was angry about the ceremony, he answered: “I know you just want me to say something, but I’m not going to. I think it’s clear. Whether people agree with me or not, you don’t.” : Not handball, or it was a fluke or something, I just don’t care about any of that discussion.
“I say any day, with a fair and level playing field, we’d win that game. You can make what you want of that.”
The Australian believed his injury-hit side, also hit by illness earlier in the game, deserved to win as Alexander Isak’s 38th-minute winner for Newcastle made it three defeats in Spurs’ last four games.
Alexander Isak scored the winning goal for “Newcastle” in the first half
“Extremely proud,” Postecoglou said of the performance. “I’m shocked the boys didn’t get the rewards they deserved because we played great football against a very good opponent.
“It’s a game we deserved to win and on any other day we would have won.”
He added: “On Thursday we literally had 11 in form, but I don’t care about that. What I care about is that the players played an incredible game.
“More than anything else, it’s unfair to them that they don’t get the rewards they deserve today.”
He also added: “The only thing that stopped us was not football.”
Howe: Right to surrender to Gordon’s goal
Anthony Gordon controversially scored the equalizer after Joelinton’s alleged handball.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted the ball hit Joelinton’s hand, but Gordon’s goal was rightly disallowed.
He said about that incident in his post-match press conference. “I can’t sit here and lie and say I didn’t see it because I did.
“It definitely hit Joelinton in the arm, I can give you that, but I don’t control the referee’s decision.
“I think his hand is in a natural position. And I think the referee and the VAR followed the rules and protocols that apply, so that’s a given.”
Howe also disagreed with Postecoglou’s view that Spurs deserved to win.
He said: “I thought we were dominant in the first half today. I thought we could and maybe should have been more in the first half.
“Yes, Tottenham played well in the second half and they brought in some quality players and pushed us back at times.
“But we did enough to get over the line.”
