Tottenham Hotspur suffered a damaging defeat at Southampton in the Premier League over the weekend.
Bournemouth player Charlie Daniels has admitted that he would have done the same thing as Tottenham ace Jan Vertonghen following his high boot on Southampton’s Josh Sims.
During Spurs’ 2-1 defeat at St Mary’s on Saturday, opposition player Sims took a boot to the head from Vertonghen, who was aiming to clear the ball as they both were running into the penalty area.
The home fans expressed their dissatisfaction as referee Kevin Friend opted against booking the Tottenham man and awarding Southampton a penalty.
Speaking to Goals on Sunday on Sky Sports Premier League, (10/03/2019 at 11:45 am), left-back Daniels admitted that the referee would have given a free-kick had the incident occurred anywhere else on the pitch as he backed Vertonghen for his attempted clearance.
“Anywhere else on the pitch and I think the ref will probably give a free kick,” Daniels told Goals on Sunday. “But in that instance, if I am Vertonghen, I think I am going to be doing the same thing.
“I just want to clear it and get it away from my goal. He [Sims] does bend towards the ball which doesn’t make it look better. It is a high boot, but if I am in the same position I would be doing the same thing.”
That wasn’t the only incident in the game, with Moussa Sissoko and Nathan Redmond being booked for a coming together following a challenge.
In the game itself, Spurs blew their one-goal lead against the relegation-threatened team with Yan Valery and a superb James Ward-Prowse free-kick sealing the points for the south coast club.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team will next be in action at the end of the month when they take on Premier League title-chasers Liverpool.
In the meantime, the North London club are taking part in some warm weather training before the players return for the international break and then that clash against the Reds.
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