Tottenham Hotspur beat Chelsea in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg encounter at Wembley Stadium.
Robbie Keane shutdown Joe Cole after he claimed that Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga purposely fouled Harry Kane because he knew the linesman’s offside flag was up.
During Tottenham’s 1-0 win over their London neighbours in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg encounter, Kane was fouled by the Chelsea keeper as he was put through on goal.
The linesman had flagged for offside prior to the incident, with referee Michael Olivier consulting VAR and turning over the offside decision as well as awarding a spot kick.
After the match, former Premier League winner Cole felt that Kepa decided to leave one on Kane knowing he was offside, a claim that was quickly squashed by former Spurs striker Keane.
“He [Kepa] may have felt that the linesman put his flag up, so he thought he has got a free one on Harry Kane,” Cole told Sky Sports Football on 08/01/2019 at 10:10 pm
“Look at the Chelsea players, the arms have gone up, they have seen something. Kepa may have seen that and thought ‘right, this is offside I have got a chance here to [leave one on Kane]’.
“There’s no way he has seen the linesmans [flag],” Keane responded. “Absolutely no way…he was focused on Kane and it was a clear penalty.”
Mauricio Pochettino’s side go into the reverse fixture with a slender lead as they aim to lift their first trophy under the stewardship of their highly-rated boss.
The winner of this fixture will play either Premier League champions Manchester City or League One outfit Burton Albion in the final next month – the duo’s first leg match takes place at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Nonetheless, both Chelsea and Spurs will know focus on the league and trying to cement their place in the top four as well as possibly closing the gap on the top two.
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