Roberto De Zerbi felt the referee in Tottenham’s draw with Leeds was ‘not calm’ and he reckons Arsenal’s win at West Ham could be to blame.
Spurs continued their battle against relegation when they hosted Leeds on Monday night and that fight will continue after a 1-1 draw with the Yorkshire side.
Mathys Tel scored a fantastic opener for the home team early in the second half, only to give away a penalty which Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored on 74 minutes.
There were nervy moments late on as Leeds pushed for a winner, with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky pulling off a stunning save from Sean Longstaff, but the match ended level.
Spurs also had hopes of a late winner, especially when substitute James Maddison went down after a challenge in the penalty area from Lukas Nmecha.
It was only slight, but it seemed the Leeds forward did get a touch on the ball and nothing was given.
After seeing a penalty given against his side and not one for, De Zerbi offered an unusual assessment of the match officials, suggesting they lacked calmness after the drama of Arsenal’s win at West Ham on Sunday.
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The Gunners picked up a huge three points, partly thanks to a late Hammers goal being ruled out after a VAR intervention.
On the match officials’ performance on Monday night, De Zerbi said: ‘I think they were not calm today, maybe they suffered the pressure of yesterday’s Arsenal game.
‘For sure we suffered the pressure today. We didn’t play with passion with the ball, too frenetic but also the referee was not calm today.’
He added on Callum Wilson’s ruled out goal against Arsenal: ‘I can’t understand the polemic about yesterday’s VAR because it was 200 per cent a foul, not 100 per cent, 200 per cent.’
With two games to play, Tottenham are 17th, two points and one place clear of West Ham. They also have a significantly better goal difference than their London rivals, which could prove pivotal.
The Spurs boss thought his team deserved to beat Leeds on Monday, but admitted they were not at the top of their game.
‘We didn’t play a great game – we played a good game,’ he said.
‘I think we deserved to win anyway but maybe the pressure, the crucial game, the crucial part of the season, we suffered too much.
‘Anyway I am happy because I watched my players with the right spirit, with the right mentality.
‘We made too many mistakes. If we want to win we have to reduce the mistakes, but we knew before this game it will be tough until the end of the season, until the last game. It is tough for us and tough for everyone.’
West Ham go to Newcastle on Sunday evening and can leapfrog Tottenham with a victory, although anything less and Spurs can put the relegation battle to bed before the final weekend of the season.
Tottenham go to Chelsea on the evening of Tuesday May 19.
The final day of the campaign sees Spurs host Everton and West Ham face Leeds in east London.