Mike Dean received the brunt of the criticism as Spurs triumphed 4-1 at Southampton.
The referee’s decision to award Mauricio Pochettino’s side a penalty – missed by Harry Kane – and send off Nathan Redmond in the process has received enough scrutiny already in the aftermath.
As you’ve probably heard by now, Dean has taken charge of three Spurs games this season, and sent off an opposition player in all three. What is more, he’s given Tottenham penalties in two of them.
Yet, one of his other decisions appears to have gone unnoticed – though probably because he didn’t seem to notice the incident himself.
Jan Vertonghen was perhaps lucky to escape a red card for appearing to grab Southampton striker Jay Rodriguez in the face as the two tussled for the ball.
Not only could the Belgian have received a straight red, he was later booked for a separate offence, so he was ultimately fortunate to still be on the pitch by the end.
"Vertonghen is nothing without Toby Alderweir-" pic.twitter.com/mEuJMgRYyM
— Jake. (@YedIin) December 28, 2016
The FA don’t agree, though, or at least not unanimously.
As reported by Sky Sports, the centre-back will not face retrospective action, as a panel of former referees could not come to an agreement after watching the video footage back.
It’s fantastic news for Spurs, as it means he’ll face Chelsea at White Hart Lane on January 4. The yellow card he did receive was his fifth of the season, and that rules him out of the trip to Watford on New Year’s Day.
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