Tottenham were rescued by VAR after Everton’s Jake O’Brien’s equalizer was ruled out for Iliman Ndiaye’s offside. The Everton forward appeared to interfere with Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, with referee Craig Pawson confirming the decision on a pitchside monitor. Officials concluded that both Ndiaye and Jack Grealish were offside and the goal was immediately ruled out, but the decision was later clarified.
A statement from Premier League Match Center read: “#EVETOT – 24th minute VAR overturn After a VAR review, the referee overturned the original goal decision for Everton. Referee statement: After review, Everton’s numbers 10 and 18 were in an offside position and interfered with the goalkeeper. The final decision was an indirect free-kick inside the six-yard box.”
Micky van de Ven put Spurs ahead earlier, scoring his second goal from another corner kick just before half-time.
Everton started the game strong and Grealish came within minutes, but James Garner narrowly missed his long-range shot. Bentancur also saw a similar shot go wide during Van de Ven’s goal.
Spurs manager Thomas Frank has come under fire following two lackluster performances in attack over the past week, with his decision to continue using Joao Parinha and Rodrigo Bentancur on Sunday also called into question.
In his pre-Everton press conference, he addressed claims that Spurs lack creativity going forward.
“I think it’s probably the team’s fault,” he admitted. “I think it’s always a team effort how we build the team. Of course, in the end I make the final decision.
“It’s a collective effort in terms of how we want to build up and how we want to create chances. I think both of them are more than capable of helping the team.”
“And I think that’s part of the game as well. The other part, of course, is how do we make sure we’re strong enough and solid enough when we get into a spell that we could be in.”
“The team is not moving as freely as we would like, because new players have come together and are becoming smoother and freer.
“If that doesn’t work, how do we make sure we’re very solid and still building? That’s part of the puzzle.”
Although the North London side have struggled with attacking fluidity, they have excelled from dead-ball situations, with Van de Ven boasting five goals this season.
His first goal was also scored by Bentancur, who flicked a corner kick into the box.
