Tottenham’s Mathys Tel turned from hero to villain as Spurs coughed up the lead in a 1-1 draw with Leeds United to leave themselves at risk of relegation.
Tottenham are out of the drop zone in 17th position, but are only two points ahead of West Ham with two games remaining in their Premier League campaign.
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Tel sparked jubilation at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when he opened the scoring in the 50th minute with a beautiful goal from the edge of the box.
A clearance from Pedro Porro’s corner fell to the 21-year-old Frenchman, who took one touch and steadied himself before curling a stunner into the top corner with his right boot.
Shortly after Tel’s brain fade cost Roberto De Zerbi’s side the chance to go four points clear of West Ham, however.
The former Bayern Munich winger attempted a bicycle kick clearance inside his own box and only succeeded in making contact with Ethan Ampadu’s head.
It was staggering that the penalty was not awarded on the field with VAR intervening and after several minutes of deliberation, the referee pointed to the spot.
“Skim his head? He nearly takes it off,” former Premier League striker Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Liverpool great Jamie Carragher was also in disbelief on Sky Sports and highlighted a moment earlier in the game where Kevin Danso scrambled to ensure a wayward pass from Tel across his own goal went unpunished.
“It’s just a crazy decision from Tel. What you think sometimes is we’ve been there sometimes as players where you don’t see the opposition player coming in,” Carragher said.
“But he’s about to make his decision and he sees him, he looks. So he’s made his decision but as soon as he knows there’s someone there, it has to change.
“He still has time, he’s got to change his mind. I thought he hadn’t seen him initially, but he has. It’s a really, really poor decision.
“We’re talking about a young attacking player, making two ridiculous decisions in this game.”
Dominic Calvert-Lewin then rifled the 74th minute penalty into the side-netting, leaving Spurs goalkeeper Antonín Kinský helpless despite diving the correct way.
It would not be the final time for the match that VAR was in the spotlight.
After ruling out West Ham’s equaliser in the dying minutes against Arsenal a day earlier, VAR once again come to the fore well beyond the 90th minute.
Eyebrows were raised when the fourth official’s board revealed there would be 13 minutes of added time.
It was then in the 103rd minute that a VAR check denied Spurs a penalty.
James Maddison came off the bench late in his return from an ACL injury sustained nine months ago, and appeared to play a decisive role in the match when he went down in the penalty area.
But Lukas Nmecha’s challenge was deemed insufficient to warrant a penalty with VAR upholding the referee’s decision on the pitch.
Tottenham players on the pitch and their supporters in the stands raised their objections, but it was one of several moments that could have swung the result either way.
Richarlison missed a golden opportunity to make it 2-0 less than ten minutes after Tel’s goal.
The Brazilian blasted his shot over the bar from close range.
While Leeds easily could have gone ahead in stoppage time if not for a superb save from Kinský, which Carragher hailed as “one of the saves of the season”.
“It was a real opportunity with what happened with West Ham to almost put the season to bed, but I felt it would be a tough game,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“Leeds are playing really well at the moment, and I think that point will feel a lot better in the morning.
“You think about that save from Kinsky, that’s one of the saves of the season. It could’ve been a lot worse.
“The two saves he made have made sure his team have got potentially a vital point.”
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Former Spurs striker Jermain Defoe was similarly upbeat about his old club.
“They’ll be disappointed not to get all three points but if you can’t win, make sure you don’t lose,” he said on Sky Sports.
“Second half, Leeds looked good. But Spurs are still in control.”
Tottenham travel to Stamford Bridge to take on London rivals in the penultimate game of their season next Wednesday morning Australian time before hosting Everton on the final day of the season.
While West Ham travel to Newcastle and welcome Leeds to the London Stadium in their final two matches.