Bergvall incident: Tottenham star accused of cheating v Arsenal in shock footage
Lucas Bergvall attempted to “con” referee Simon Hooper during a coming together with Myles Lewis-Skelly as Tottenham were beaten by Arsenal on Wednesday, Keith Hackett has said.
The 18-year-old Swedish midfielder and his Gunners counterpart were spotted pulling each other’s jerseys at a corner during Spurs’ 2-1 defeat at Emirates Stadium (15 January).
Hooper opted to book Lewis-Skelly for time-wasting but took no other action with Bergvall escaping punishment in a game where Spurs had the lead but failed to win.
Former PGMOL chief and FIFA referee Hackett things Bergvall was trying to gain an advantage with Hooper and called on the Premier League to take more action over holding and pulling offences.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News (16 January), Hackett said: “The Spurs player grabbed hold of his opponent and then fell to the ground in an effort to con the referee. He should have been yellow-carded.
“The PGMOL need to start to look seriously about what action as a group of referees they can start to impose their authority at corner kicks where all too often we are witnessing rugby not football.
“The IFAB needs to look at if a law change should be considered. At set-pieces and free kicks there has to be a gap of a minimum of one yard between the players of both teams at a defensive wall. Perhaps they should introduce this type of criteria at corner kicks.
“A referee’s control is at risk when they take no action. Holding, pulling, pushing are offences that are going unpunished It’s a mess and damaging the image of the game. PGMOL, Premier League sort it.”
Lucas Bergvall lucky to escape punishment as Tottenham lose to Arsenal
It was another desperately disappointing evening for Spurs in a season of lows as Son Heung-min’s opener counted for nothing as a Dominic Solanke own goal and Leandro Trossard striker consigned Ange Postecoglou’s men to defeat.
Bergvall has been involved in plenty of flashpoints in recent weeks and this was another one. On another day, he probably receives a yellow card from Hooper.
Incidents like this often go unnoticed and unpunished but, realistically, there’s no reason why they should and Hooper might have acted if he’d seen it.
Ultimately, it mattered little and the overwhelming feeling was one of frustration and annoyance as Spurs saw a lead slip against their rivals.
In other Tottenham news, Ange Postecoglou is surely going to be sacked now – there’s no way back.
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