Former Premier League official Dermott Gallagher believes Tottenham were very lucky to be awarded Harry Kane's goal against Leeds United. Whites' goalkeeper Illan Meslier was seemingly fouled by Spurs defender Clement Lenglet in the build-up to the goal, ending up in the back of his own net when attempting to punch the ball clear from the corner.
The ball dropped to Harry Kane on the edge of the six-yard box, who prodded the ball into the back of the net to equalise. Despite remonstrations from Leeds players, VAR did not intervene.
Speaking on Ref Watch on Sky Sports, Gallagher said: "I think Lenglet clearly fouls the goalkeeper for me. The clue for me, is the goalkeeper is in the air there he's got to play the ball. I think Lenglet goes into him and they're very lucky to have a goal.
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"That's so out of kilter to what we see week in, week out. The one thing we have, is this suggestion that goalkeepers are over-protected, well he wasn't there but I was surprised no foul.
"I can only presume that the referee has fed back to the VAR what he's seen and the VAR has come to the conclusion that it's not a clear and obvious error."
Stephen Warnock was in agreement with Gallagher, he said: "Meslier is in a good position to punch the ball, but as soon as you get pushed, the ability to punch the ball is weakened then so he can't get a good punch on it. He's pushed into the goal.
"I'm in that camp where goalkeepers get too much protection but when he's in the air you cannot push him. You can't do that. This is the one thing that's really frustrating me, at times is what has the referee said?
"If he's seen it from his angle, the VAR official gets to see it from three or four angles. Now we've got a clear angle where Lenglet goes into him, causes an issue, it's a foul.
"It's a clear foul. You've missed something, but from your angle it looks ok. How can you not see that and how can you not see what impact that's having on the game? That's the frustrating part of it."
Sue Smith added: "As he's coming up to punch it in the air, he gets pushed into his net so he can't get a good contact on it. Like you say, no attempt to play the ball and I was surprised to see the goal stand."
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