Premier League

WEST HAM 1 (Soucek 55)
TOTTENHAM 1 (Kehrer 34 og)

ANTONIO Conte could not hide his disappointment at a controversial VAR decision that might have robbed Tottenham of an opening goal against West Ham tonight (Wednesday) at the London Stadium.

Spurs fought out a tough one-all draw with their London rivals – but Conte believed his side should have enjoyed a more comfortable evening after earning themselves an early penalty.

Referee Peter Bankes awarded Tottenham the spot-kick after just 10 minutes when Aaron Cresswell’s raised arm blocked a Harry Kane header.

But after a wait of nearly five minutes, Bankes overturned his own decision – prompting the Spurs manager to vent in his post match press conference.

Conte said: “I said to him [the referee] at the end of the first half, but with a smile and not in a problematic way, you have taken the right decision and then VAR called you. They have for sure embarrassed the referee because to make him change a right decision, I think it was really, really strange.

“But for managers and for players, I think to accept the mistake of the referee during the game is okay because a referee’s decision sometimes can be positive, sometimes can be negative. At the end of the season there is always a balance with a positive or negative situation for your team.”

Conte also criticised the long wait for a decision over the penalty that upset Tottenham’s early momentum, adding: “It was very strange. They took a lot of time, and then the decision taken was incredible. It is either that, of they do not know the rules. It could be that the referee at first made a human mistake – but with the monitor you cannot make that mistake.”

Replays showed Kane’s effort did strike Cresswell’s raised arm, but the ball was judged to have first hit the West Ham defender on the head, leaving Bankes to decide, on a second look, it was accidental.

Tottenham did still take the lead when Thilo Kehrer slid in and diverted the ball into his own net following Kane’s low cross, although had the West Ham defender left it Heung-Min Son would have been at hand to score anyway.

But the home side equalised 10 minutes into the second half through Tomas Soucek after the midfielder latched on to a clever Michail Antonio flick and smashed the ball past Hugo Lloris.

Reflecting on the point Tottenham took from the game Conte said: “We learn for the future. We are going step by step and today we showed we are strong.”

Before kick off, Spurs must have fancied their chances – but at the full-time whistle, Conte must have felt a sense of relief that their unbeaten start to the season has survived what is always a tricky derby test.

West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Kehrer, Zouma, Cresswell (Ogbonna, 71), Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Benrahma (Paqueta, 66), Fornals (Emerson, 85), Antonio
Substitutes not used: Areola, Randolph, Lanzini, Downes, Cornet, Coventry

Tottenham: Lloris, Sanchez, Dier, Davies, Royal, Hojbjerg, Bissouma, Perisic, Kulusevski (Richarlison, 76), Son, Kane
Substitutes not used: Forster, Doherty, Skipp, Sessegnon, Spence, Tanganga, Sarr, Lenglet