Sunderland vs Tottenham: Keith Hackett wants retrospective action amid 'cheating' suggestion

Sunderland defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 on Sunday to pile yet more misery on Spurs in Roberto De Zerbi's first game in charge.

Nordi Mukiele's deflected strike just after the hour mark settled the Premier League contest at the Stadium of Light.

Spurs remain without a win in 2026 and are two points from safety with just six matches remaining this campaign.

De Zerbi would have taken a couple of positives from the match, but the result is all that truly mattered and it was yet another disappointment on that front.

And speaking exclusively to Tottenham News after the match, former FIFA referee Keith Hackett shared his views on what he believes to be underhand tactics used by both Sunderland and Spurs.

Keith Hackett accuses players of trying to deceive referee Rob Jones

Spurs had a penalty overturned in the first half against Sunderland after Randal Kolo Muani was seemingly felled by Omar Alderete and Luke O'Nien.

Referee Rob Jones initially pointed to the spot, but he was asked by VAR to check the incident back over on the pitchside monitor and reversed his decision.

That was a big call in the grand scheme of things as Mukiele went on to score the only goal of the match for Sunderland in the second half.

There were a number of big calls that Jones got wrong, namely against Tottenham, but the man in the middle was not given an easy time of things in fairness.

Players from both sides regularly went to ground easily in the hope of earning their side a free-kick or potentially a penalty.

And Hackett, who was once the head of PGMOL, believes those who attempted to con the officials deserve to be punished.

"The authorities have to take action to put an end to the increasing amount of acts of simulation to deceive the referee," he said.

"Players sadly are going to ground far too easily in an attempt to win free-kicks and penalty kicks. It’s a dilemma facing match officials and it tarnishes the image of the Premier League.

"The referee has one view and is making honest judgments. However, when a player clearly has attempted to deceive the referee, and he waives aside the appeal, at that point the game should be stopped and the offending player issued with a yellow card.

"In other situations a review of all games should take place the following day and, where acts of simulation are detected, then let's see retrospective action."

Tottenham winless run bordering on historic levels

For those keeping count, it is now 14 Premier League matches without a victory for Tottenham.

That is a remarkable run for any team, let alone one that is supposed to be among the division's elite.

This is Spurs' second-longest such run without a win in their entire league history - not just the Premier League - behind a run of 16 matches between December 1934 and April 1935.

If it wasn't already, next weekend's clash with Brighton and Hove Albion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is very much must win.