Bizarre VAR offside kicks off Tottenham drama as followers storm out with membership in ‘free fall’
Premier League fans believed Crystal Palace were ‘robbed’ against Tottenham after Ismaila Sarr had a goal ruled out for the narrowest of offsides. The assistant referee kept his flag down as Sarr’s deflected strike looped over Guglielmo Vicario and nestled in the far corner.
However, following a VAR review, Sarr’s opener at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was disallowed, with replays revealing that only Sarr’s forehead had drifted beyond the last defender, Micky van de Ven. The Premier League Match Centre posted on X: “VAR checked the referee’s call of goal – and established that Sarr was in an offside position and recommended that the goal was disallowed.”
However, co-commentator and former Spurs keeper Joe Hart remarked on TNT Sports: “None of it looks right. Is that what we’re going with? His face was offside?” Meanwhile, lead commentator Sam Matterface observed: “Oliver Glasner is saying his nose is offside! Talk about by the finest of margins. Offside by a nose.”
(Image: TNT Sports)
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Hart then quipped: “I know a few people who would have been given offside in that situation!”
Sarr refrained from celebrating after finding the net, appearing to recognise how marginal the decision would be. The ultimate ruling ranked amongst the most bizarre VAR verdicts witnessed in Premier League history.
In a frantic first half, Spurs grabbed the lead moments later courtesy of Dominic Solanke. However, Spurs shot themselves in the foot as Van de Ven was sent off for bringing down Sarr in the box as a certified disaster unravelled.
(Image: Harry Murphy – Danehouse, Getty Images)
The winger converted from twelve yards to equalise just six minutes after the home side had edged ahead.
Adding insult to injury for Igor Tudor, Jorgen Strand Larsen fired Palace into a 2-1 advantage against ten-man Spurs merely two minutes into first-half added time. Before the break, Sarr claimed his second to virtually seal the contest in the seventh minute of stoppage time. TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher perfectly said: “This isn’t a slump, it’s free fall without a parachute.”
Thunderous jeers accompanied the half-time whistle whilst some fans were captured on camera heading for the exits. Should the north London club endure a fifth straight Premier League loss, merely one point would divide them from West Ham in the drop zone.
The Hammers have secured two victories and two stalemates in their previous five outings, in stark contrast, intensifying the heat on Spurs. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest also claimed a vital late point away at Manchester City in a 2-2 deadlock at the Etihad on Wednesday evening.
Both West Ham and Forest are positioned on 28 points, whilst Spurs possess just 29 points from 29 matches.
