Antonio Conte sees red as Spurs denied late winner against Sporting

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte is shown a red card by referee Danny Makkelie [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte went from celebrating his team’s qualification for the group stage at the UEFA Champions League to walking down the tunnel with a red card to his name and only one point after a controversial VAR decision overturned a last-minute game-winning goal.
 
Spurs drew 1-1 with Sporting Lisbon at home in their penultimate Group D game of the Champions League, with an 80th minute Rodrigo Bentancur header tying the score after a Marcus Edwards goal in the 20th minute.
 
But the real story came in the dying seconds of the game, when Ivan Perisic crossed the ball in from the left wing, finding Emerson Royal in the box. Royal headed the ball back to Harry Kane, who slammed in a shot from point-blank range, scoring the winner with what likely would have been the very last play of the game.
 
Only to have it ruled offside after a lengthy VAR check.  
 
The decision was a complicated one. To start with, Royal, headed the ball backwards, amounting essentially to a backwards pass, evidence enough for many people that he cannot have been offside.
 

Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane scores a goal that was later ruled offside during a Champions League game against Sporting at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Wednesday. [REUTERSYONHAP]

 
But the reality is that a player can be offside even when receiving a backwards pass if they are in front of the ball when it is played. According to an incredibly tight VAR diagram, Kane’s leading knee was ahead of the ball when it left Royal’s head.
 
Secondly, Kane didn’t actually receive the ball from Royal. He was way out of position to intercept the header, and only found the ball in his path when it deflected off Flávio Nazinho’s leg.  
 
The deflection was what led to the goal, so it would seem that would erase the offside ruling. But again, the intricacies of the offside rule have a contingency for deflections, and if Nazinho’s deflection is not considered deliberate, Kane’s offside position still stands.
 
All this amounts to an offside ruling that, while technically correct, almost definitely would never have happened before the VAR era. Even with VAR, there are a lot of factors at play that many referees would not consider concrete enough to overturn a game winning goal.
 
Referee Danny Makkelie obviously did feel like he had good enough reason to intercede.
 
The reaction from the Tottenham bench and players was unsurprisingly emphatic. Harry Kane and Eric Dier led the squad with the referee until after the final whistle had blown, while Conte’s fiery explosion from the touchline had him seeing red and heading down the tunnel seconds before time was called.
 

Tottenham’s Son Heung-min reacts during a Champions League match against Sporting at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Wednesday. [AP/YONHAP]

 
“You know that I don’t comment on the referee’s decision but the VAR this season in the Premier League and the Champions League, we are not so lucky,” Conte said after the game.
 
“I think it creates a big damage. I’d like to see this type of decision with a top team in an important game, I’d like to see if the VAR is so brave to take this decision, I repeat an unfair decision because the ball is in front of Kane.
 
“Sorry but I’m really upset because sometimes you can accept this situation but sometimes I think it’s not good because I don’t see honesty in this type of situation and when I don’t see this I become really, really upset.”
 

 
The 1-1 draw leaves Group D as the tightest group in the Champions League, with Spurs in first place on eight points, Sporting second on seven points, Eintracht Frankfurt third on seven points and Marseille last on six points, meaning all four teams could still qualify for a spot in the round of 16.
 
Before the final decider against Marseille, Tottenham return to the Premier League on Saturday for a game against Bournemouth. Spurs will then take on Marseille next Tuesday at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, France.
 

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]