Tottenham eased to an emphatic 3-0 win over West Ham in Saturday’s London derby.
Quickfire goals from Pape Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven in the early stages of the second saw the Lilywhites cruise to a comfortable victory, aided by a 54th-minute red card for Tomas Soucek.
Tottenham downed West Ham to continue their bright start to the new Premier League campaign, and they already find themselves sitting second in the early-season table.
Thomas Frank’s men will have been delighted to leave E20 with all three points, but there will undoubtedly be some lingering frustration over a key moment of the game that was misinterpreted by the referee.
Jarred Gillett ‘guessed’ on Cristian Romero disallowed goal
Frank’s Tottenham side were impressive again as they heaped yet more pressure on Graham Potter and West Ham on Saturday.
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The N17 outfit turned in a clinical display, but also combined that with a genuine defensive steel, as they notched their third clean sheet from four league outings so far this term.
The afternoon could have been even easier for the visitors had Cristian Romero’s 19th-minute header not been ruled out for a foul.
Referee Jarred Gillett appeared to disallow the goal due to an infringement on Kyle Walker-Peters as Mohammed Kudus’ corner travelled into the box.
However, replays then showed that the push actually came from Walker-Peters himself, who knocked himself off balance while trying to impede Romero.
Gillett has since been slammed for the call by the print edition of The Sun Goals, where former Premier League referee Mark Halsey took aim at the Australian for “guessing” and ruling out what was a “perfectly good goal.”
“If the goal was given on the field, then VAR wouldn’t have got involved and it would have stood,” Halsey wrote.
“Australian official Gillett simply guessed and got it wrong.”
West Ham win shows Tottenham credentials again
Tottenham have made an encouraging start in the Premier League in the last few weeks, and this latest victory was another sign of their improvement as a team.
The Lilywhites never really looked in any danger during what was another resolute showing from a backline that looked all at sea at times last term.
Spurs have now conceded just one goal in their opening four league games, and that steely nature at the back will be invaluable in tricky assignments like this one, which they would likely have dropped points in last season.
Some favourable fixtures lie ahead in the coming weeks, and if Tottenham can continue to show the same level of promise that we have seen so far, they could find themselves in a very handy position come November.