Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou after chaotic Chelsea defeat: ‘Accept referee’s decision – VAR eroding authority’

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou urged football to accept refereeing decisions and warned that VAR is “eroding” match officials’ authority after his side fell to a 4-1 defeat against Chelsea during an incident-packed game.

Spurs had Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie sent off during a chaotic encounter that saw five disallowed goals and a series of lengthy checks by the video assistant referee.

Just days after Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hit out at VAR and the officials for allowing Newcastle’s winning goal to stand, Postecoglou expressed his own dissatisfaction with VAR, questioning the technology’s implementation rather than referee Michael Oliver.

“Decisions are decisions, you either accept it or you don’t,” he told Sky Sports.

“Some of it is self-inflicted (but) if we are going to go out and complain about bad decisions every week what will happen is what happened today — a forensic study of every decision.

“I think that’s the way the game is going. I don’t like it. I could be a lone voice as I’m told that’s the way forward. With VAR intervention, it just felt like a lot of standing around.

“At some point we have to accept the referee’s decision. That’s how I grew up. This constant erosion of referees’ authority this is what the game is going to get. They will not have any authority, it is going to get diminished and we are going to be in the control of someone a few miles away watching a TV screen.”

Tottenham had led through Dejan Kulusevski’s sixth-minute deflected goal but faced an uphill task after Romero was sent off for a challenge that allowed Cole Palmer to equalise, before Udogie picked up a second yellow card 10 minutes after the break.

The hosts, who had already lost James Maddison and Micky van de Ven to injury, held out until the 75th minute, when Nicolas Jackson scored the first goal of his hat-trick.

Chelsea exploited the hosts’ high line, but Postecoglou defended his tactics, saying: “It is just who we are, mate. It is who we are and who we will be for as long as I am here. If we go down to five men we will have a go.”

Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea: Timeline of chaos

6: Kulusevski scores deflected goal14: Son goal ruled out for offside18: Udogie shown yellow card, VAR decides against red22: Romero kicks out at Colwill but escapes action24: Sterling equaliser disallowed for handball28: Caicedo equaliser ruled out for offside31: VAR check for penalty for Romero challenge on Fernandez34: Penalty awarded and red card shown to Romero35: Penalty scored by Palmer37: Jackson goal ruled out for offside43: Maddison down injured after no contact44: Van de Ven pulls up with suspected hamstring injury45: 12 minutes’ stoppage time added on45+1: Maddison and Van de Den substituted45+12: VAR check for violent conduct by James55: Udogie given second yellow for tackle on sterling75: Jackson scores to put Chelsea ahead78: Dier goal disallowed for offside90+4: Jackson converts Gallagher cross after Son misses chance90+7: Jackson scores to complete hat-trick

Maurico Pochettino was thrilled to win an “amazing game” and said the goals would boost Jackson’s confidence.

The former Spurs boss told Sky Sports: “That is the football we want. I really like the way we played today. We were competitive. It was an amazing game.

“It was difficult for us to control the game, too many mistakes in possession. The defensive line was so high and we didn’t have the patience to find the right ball. When the team is not full of confidence that can happen.”

On Jackson, he added: “It will build his confidence. When strikers are young and you arrive at a club like Chelsea the demands are massive.

“There was massive pressure on him but I hope this hat-trick allows him to play more relaxed and be more confident.”

GO DEEPER

Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea: First-half chaos, Jackson hat-trick and two red cards

(Photo: Getty Images)