Tottenham Hotspur had a goal chalked off by VAR on Saturday.
Ex-Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has told the Daily Mail that Tottenham Hotspur need to accept that Son Heung-min was offside against Leicester City.
Spurs travelled up to the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon, seeking an end to their away day blues – but ended up more frustrated than ever before.
Tottenham had been in front through a sensational Harry Kane finish, and looked to be 2-0 up when Serge Aurier finished off Kane’s pass in the second half.
However, the goal was ruled out because forward Son was marginally – 1.6cm to be exact – offside, and the decision has been viewed as highly controversial given that it was barely even clear that he was offside.
The situation was made even worse was Ricardo Pereira equalised for Leicester, and James Maddison then crashed home the winner to send Spurs home empty-handed once again.
Fans have been complaining about VAR all season, but seeing them chalk off a goal like that when they don’t overturn other, more clear errors has left a sour taste.
Now, referee Clattenburg – one of the biggest names in refereeing – has given his rather blunt view, telling fans that they need to accept that Son was offside even if was only 1.6cm.
Clattenburg thinks people need to stop complaining about VAR showing players to be marginally offside, as that’s still offside, and believes the correct decision was to disallow the goal.
“If VAR tells us Son Heung-min was 1.6cm offside, then he is offside,” said Clattenburg. “We need to accept that if the camera shows a player to be offside, no matter how small the margin, then the decision will be given. Do we then start not allowing goals which are just 1.6cm over the line? No. This is one aspect of VAR we have to stop complaining about. Son was offside seconds before Serge Aurier scored what would have been Spurs’ second goal at Leicester, and the correct decision was reached,” he added.
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