Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said VAR is "diminishing the authority" of referees after seeing his team lose in the Premier League for the first time this season against Chelsea.
A 4-1 win for the Blues over their London rivals told only half the story of a match that featured five disallowed goals, two red cards, a penalty and two Spurs players forced off during the first half with injury.
But the match was dominated by VAR’s involvement with the red cards being two of nine decisions referred to the video referee.
Even with nine men, the hosts continued to take the game to Chelsea and were well in the contest before Nicolas Jackson twice sprung their high line in stoppage time to add his team’s third and fourth goals and complete an unlikely hat-trick.
Postecoglou’s team had dominated the early exchanges and led through a Dejan Kulusevski goal on six minutes. They maintained that control until defender Cristian Romero was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle on his fellow Argentine Enzo Fernandez on 33 minutes.
Moises Caicedo's blast from the edge of the area beat Guglielmo Vicario, but VAR ruled Jackson was offside and it still came to Chelsea's aid.
As the VAR check went on, Romero's challenge on Fernandez just before Caicedo's shot was adjudged to be a penalty, with the defender dismissed for his studs-up follow-through on the Chelsea midfielder's shin.
Cole Palmer's spot-kick was almost saved by Vicario but it had enough power to elude his grasp as it went in via the post.
There was more hold-up in play as Chelsea's Raheem Sterling and Tottenham's Son Heung-min both had goals disallowed by VAR for handball and offside respectively.
Spurs were reduced to nine men 10 minutes into the second half when left-back Destiny Udogie received a second yellow card for a foul on Sterling.
Despite their numerical advantage, it took Chelsea until the 75th minute to take the lead with Jackson grabbing his first of the night.
Spurs’ night was compounded by the loss of James Maddison and Micky van de Ven to injury on top of what is likely to be a three-game ban for Romero.
But it was VAR’s impact that dominated Postecoglou’s thoughts after the game after Spurs also had an Eric Dier goal ruled out by VAR for offside and a total of 21 minutes were added on at the end of each half.
Lengthy VAR pauses "are going to become the norm," said the Spurs boss. "I think it’s where the game is heading. Unfortunately, it’s how we’re going to have to watch and participate in football from now on.
“I don’t like it. I don’t like the standing around, the whole theatre around waiting for decisions. But I know I’m in the wilderness on that.
“In my 26 years, I was always prepared to accept the referee’s decision, good, bad or otherwise, and I’ve had some shockers in my career. I’ve had some go my way as well.
“I’ll cop that because I just want the game to be played. But when we’re complaining about decisions every week, this is what’s going to happen.
“People are going to forensically scrutinise everything to make sure they’re comfortable it’s right, and even at the end of that, we’re still not happy.
“It’s just diminishing the authority of the referee. You can’t tell me referees are in control of games. They’re not. Control is outside of that, but that’s where the game’s going. You have to accept it and try and deal with it.”
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino was able to savour a sweet victory over Tottenham on his first return to the club since his sacking in 2019.
Though the Argentine's revenge mission was overshadowed by an incredible litany of controversial incidents, he reflected on a game in which, despite a host of contentious decisions, he felt his team were deserved victors.
“I think we deserved to win,” he said. “We forced them to make too many mistakes. Tottenham were better in the first 15 minutes but then we matched the game. Our performance was good.
“Everything you can see during the game I think was fair. We compare to the Tottenham-Liverpool game, a similar game like today. Liverpool complained. But today, everything that happened was fair. That’s why I think 4-1, the performance was good.”
Pochettino was given a largely warm reception by Tottenham fans in recognition of a five-year reign that included taking them to their maiden Champions League final.
But there could be no doubting his pleasure at inflicting a first league defeat on his former employers this term, especially given the extraordinary circumstances of one of the Premier League's most incendiary matches.
"The technology is there and we need to accept. Many things happen on the pitch and you need to verify and check," Pochettino said.
"We deserve the credit. Tottenham are doing fantastic but tonight we were the better team."
Spurs v Chelsea ratings
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TOTTENHAM RATINGS: Made a brilliant save to deny Jackson and was unlucky to be beaten after palming Palmer’s penalty onto the post. Rushed out superbly on a few occasions to reach dangerous balls through, then did superbly to stop Cucurella but was left helpless by Jackson as he scored a hat-trick. PA -
Played some wayward passes early on, including a shocker that resulted in Jackson’s early chance, but defended tirelessly and delivered some brilliant late free-kicks that caused havoc in Chelsea’s box. EPA -
Fortunate not to be sent off for kicking out at Colwill but the Argentine’s luck ran out when his reckless challenge on Argentina teammate Fernandez resulted in a penalty and a red card. AP -
Had looked confident in possession and in his defensive work before pulling up with a hamstring injury while chasing a ball behind shortly before half time. Getty Images -
Looked comfortable in the early stages but had some wild moments, including a poor challenge on Sterling 18 minutes in that sparked Chelsea into life and the challenge that earned him a second yellow in the 55th minute. Getty Images -
Showed a great passing range and was willing to show his combative side when required, putting in plenty of good defensive work for his team. Reuters -
Played a well-weighted pass-through for Kulusevski to score the opener but wasn’t as incisive when Son was running through in the second half. Booked for his coming together with Colwill. EPA -
Hit the strike that went in off Colwill for the opening goal and put in some good work off the ball, notably dispossessing Fernandez for a Spurs burst forward. AP -
Played a superb pass to start the move for the opener and had some more nice moments on the ball before being forced off through injury in the first half. AP -
Can consider himself unlucky, having seen Son’s goal from his perfectly weighted pass ruled out for a marginal offside before then being substituted following Romero’s red card. EPA -
Had a clinically taken goal ruled out after straying offside by the finest of margins. Wasn’t offered much service after his side saw red but was a willing worker for the team and was unlucky to see his shot saved late on. Reuters -
SUBS:(Johnson, 34’) Came on for his first minutes of the season following Romero’s red card and made an outstanding intervention to cut out Sterling’s ball for Jackson. Thought he had scored the equaliser but had strayed marginally offside, then gave himself no chance of stopping Jackson with a high line late on. EPA -
(Van de Ven, 45+1’) Showed great awareness for most of the game despite playing in an unnatural centre-back position, superbly cutting out James’ low cross and heading Sterling’s attempt clear. However, Sterling ran off him in the build-up to the goal. AP -
(Maddison, 45+1’) Made a heroic intervention to touch Jackson’s header over the crossbar then did well to halt Sterling’s run. Hit a shockingly wasteful shot from a free-kick. AP -
(Kulusevski, 61’) Lightning quick to stop Jackson getting his shot off following Vicario’s brilliant save to deny Cucurella. AFP -
(Sarr, 61’) Got the flick on for Dier’s disallowed goal but couldn’t quite get enough on another Porro free-kick to get it on target. Getty Images -
CHELSEA PLAYER RATINGS: Had no chance of stopping Kulusevski’s shot due to the deflection off Colwill but dealt with Porro’s strike well. Some of his passing was poor but he did well to save Son’s late attempt. Reuters -
Looked lost in the early stages but grew into the game and showed an attacking threat, playing a ball through for Jackson. Hit a venomous shot narrowly wide and played the pass through that resulted in Chelsea’s second. PA -
Just about stayed high enough for Son to be caught offside but didn’t react quickly enough to reach Gallagher’s header in the opposite box. EPA -
Struggled to keep up with play at times in the first half but did well to halt Maddison’s run and dealt with balls to Son well in the second half. Stepped in decisively to clear a loose ball in the box late on. Reuters -
The defender’s half-hearted attempt to block Kulusevski’s shot resulted in him deflecting it into his own net. Completely lost his head and was booked for a coming together with Sarr before being taken off at half time. Reuters -
Battled in the middle well at times and picked out some nice passes. Had a brilliant goal ruled out because Jackson was marginally offside, although he wasn’t worried for too long as the penalty was awarded in the same passage of play. EPA -
Hit a shot harmlessly off target but was the man on the receiving end of Romero’s tackle for the penalty. Was caught on the ball by Kulusevski in a dangerous area. EPA -
Provided a composed presence while many of his teammates looked panicked in the early stages, which was shown when he scored Chelsea’s equaliser from the penalty spot. He also held up the play to help create the space that was exploited for Chelsea’s second and slipped a brilliant ball through for the final goal. Getty Images -
Very busy throughout and embraced the chaos in the first half, although he was unlucky that Disasi didn’t reach his headed knockdown. Did well to put Jackson’s second goal on a plate for the striker. Getty Images -
Guilty of running behind too early at times and saw a goal ruled out after the ball hit his hand, although many of his runs behind created problems. Played a terrible pass but then reached the ball ahead of Udogie and then teed up Jackson for Chelsea’s second. AP -
Caught agonisingly offside for Caicedo’s disallowed goal, saw some attempts saved by Vicario and got booked for pulling back Sarr. None of that will matter to the striker, who scored with two cool finishes to earn his team the win, then rounded Vicario to secure his hat-trick. Getty Images -
SUBS: (Colwill, 46') Slotted in seamlessly despite the madness and made a superb run behind but was halted by Vicario. AFP -
(Fernandez, 58’) Coming into such a passionate match, he looked timid at first and was booked for a late challenge on Vicario. Made a good run behind to tee up a chance for Jackson. AFP -
(James, 77’) Gave away a needless free-kick in a dangerous area to put his team under pressure and saw yellow for it. Aside from that, he did a lot of the simple things well and made a good clearance. AP -
(Sterling, 91’) He conceded the ball cheaply for Son’s late chance and was booked for a foul on Bissouma. EPA
