Henry Winter hits out at official Tottenham and Crystal Palace announcement
Tottenham hosted Crystal Palace in their penultimate home game of the Premier League season on Sunday.
Ange Postecoglou’s men headed into their clash with the Eagles with momentum behind them after beating Bodo/Glimt on Thursday to book their spot in the Europa League final.
But the North Londoners had not won in the Premier League since their 3-1 win over relegated Southampton on 6 April.
Tottenham will hope for a more fruitful top-flight season next term, but for now, Postecoglou’s main focus rightly lies in the Europa League.
Winter fumes over decision to disallow Crystal Palace goal v Tottenham
Palace thought they had taken the lead in the early proceedings of their trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium through Ismaila Sarr.
However, after a VAR review, the goal was disallowed with a Premier League statement outlining that Jean-Philippe Mateta was offside in the build-up.
| Opponent | Result |
| Bodo/Glimt (H) | 3-1 W |
| West Ham (A) | 1-1 D |
| Bodo/Glimt (A) | 0-2 W |
The decision was a contentious one, and journalist Henry Winter believes the Premier League need to provide more context with such statements.
“VAR checked the referee’s call of goal – and established that Mateta was in an offside position in the build-up and recommended that the goal was disallowed,” he said.
“Such a contentious decision needs more clarification than a bland statement and confusing picture.”
Europa League final will determine Tottenham’s success this season
Ahead of their clash with Palace, Spurs had already lost 19 Premier League games this term, and supporters will frankly not care about the North Londoners’ top-flight exploits if they go on to win the Europa League later this month.
There is no doubt that Tottenham should be disappointed by their poor efforts in the domestic game this term, but a European final with Manchester United presents Postecoglou’s men with an opportunity to create history.
The North London outfit are yet to win a trophy since their League Cup triumph back in 2008, which is a poor record they will be eager to put behind them in less than two weeks.
Postecoglou’s men have already got the better of Man United on three occasions this term, with two wins arriving in the Premier League either side of a dramatic 4-3 win in the Carabao Cup in December.
Tottenham will now hope to beat the Red Devils once more on the big stage in Bilbao come 21 May.