Dele Alli scored for Tottenham Hotspur as they recorded a point against struggling Everton.
Tottenham’s Dele Alli has claimed that the reason why his hand went above his head during the handball incident against Everton was because he was being ‘elbowed’ by Yerry Mina as they jumped up to head the ball.
During Tottenham’s 1-1 draw at Goodison Park, Alli was trying to head the ball away from danger area when the ball brushed his arm, that incident resulted in VAR checking for a penalty – eventually, it wasn’t given.
The replays show that Alli did get a slight elbow from Everton’s centre-back, and after that elbow, his hand then went above his head, with the ball then making contact.
Speaking to Sky Sports Premier League (03/11/2010 06:50 pm), Alli shared what he was thinking during the handball incident, as he stated something that may not have been noticed by others.
“It’s a strange one because when it first happened, I felt the referee had thought [I had been elbowed] because I felt an elbow go into my face and that’s when my arms went up,” Alli told Sky Sports.
“The longer it goes on, the more you are thinking, ‘what are they checking?’. Then they tell me that they are checking for a handball. Then you are like ‘maybe it did hit my hand, or maybe it didn’t’.
“When I went up I felt an elbow in my face. I felt contact and that’s when I was thinking, they’re not going to give handball. But the longer it goes on, it starts playing on your mind.”
In the end, VAR decided against awarding Everton a penalty, with the officials checking the incident for a pretty long period of time before making their final decision.
It was one of many VAR talking points during the game, with the system coming under more criticism this week for the manner in which it is being run.
Referee Martin Atkinson, who was officiating on the field of play, was also criticised for his decision-making on the day.
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