Sam Allardyce was unimpressed with the refereeing in Sunday’s north London derby (Picture: Getty)
Sam Allardyce has slammed the referee’s performance in Sunday’s north London derby and claimed Peter Bankes was guilty of committing an ‘outrageous’ error that benefited Arsenal.
The Gunners ultimately romped to a resounding 4-1 victory that helped breathe new life into a title bid that had been flagging.
While nobody disputed Mikel Arteta’s side were the better team on the day and ran out worthy winners, the contest may have taken a different turn had Randal Kolo Muani’s goal not have been ruled out for a push on Gabriel Magalhaes.
Replays appeared to show that the contact on the Arsenal centre-half was minimal and should not have prompted his dramatic fall which convinced Bankes to disallow what would have been the France international’s second goal of the game.
‘The referee in the North London Derby made a massive error by disallowing Randal Kolo Muani’s second goal,’ the former England manager told the Tippy Tappy Football podcast.
‘Spurs may not have gone on to get any points from the game, but if they were to have made it 2-2, who knows whether Arsenal’s nerves would have frayed again?
‘Gabriel should have been booked for feigning a free-kick. How many times do we see a ball come into the box from corners where there’s pushing and shoving – almost grievous bodily harm – and the referee allows a goal to stand?
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@metrosportuk Will Spurs get relegated? 🫢 Following Arsenal’s 4-1 win against Tottenham in the North London Derby, @Jensen believes Spurs are the worst team in the Premier League right now, and he’s very much been impressed with Viktor Gyökeres after his two goals in the fixture. #arsenal #tottenham #northlondonderby #premierleague #gyokeres ♬ original sound – Metro Sport
‘Tottenham can’t afford any more bad decisions out of their control like that.
‘It was an outrageously bad decision and really, really poor from the referee – and even poorer from VAR to allow the decision to stand.’
The defeat left Tottenham staring the prospect of relegation full in the face with just a four point gap now separating them from the drop zone.
Interim manager Igor Tudor was left under no illusion as to the size of the task facing him and former Spurs midfielder Gus Poyet fears his former club have appointed the wrong coach to get them out of bother.
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‘I was surprised to see Spurs appoint Igor Tudor, given the precarious situation they’re in,’ he told BetWright.
‘Not because of his ability as a coach, but more the fact that the club are in a troubling position.
‘I was expecting someone with a lot of experience coaching in the Premier League to be given the job – someone like Tim Sherwood, who has experience at the club and in the league.
Gabriel enjoyed a lucky escape against Tottenham (Picture: Getty)
‘Tudor looked shocked on Sunday, as if he had realised what he’s got himself into at Spurs – it looked like a reality-check! Because Arsenal beat them in every aspect of the game, which I don’t think he was expecting.
‘But now I think he’d admit he’s got a harder job than what he first anticipated.
‘After watching the derby, you can see the team are in big trouble and they need their injured players to return as soon as possible.’
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