.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp&quality=75&crop=3%3A2%2Csmart&trim= "Spurs boss De Zerbi makes officials claim and Leeds prediction for West Ham - Yorkshire Evening Post")
Roberto De Zerbi saw Leeds United fight back against his relegation-battling Tottenham side to take a 1-1 draw.
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Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi has questioned the composure of the officials after a dramatic 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
Referee Jarred Gillett missed the foul that was spotted by VAR to hand Leeds a penalty and a leveller at Tottenham Hotspur, enraged both sides at various points and then added on 13 minutes.
Though De Zerbi did not comment specifically on incidents during the game, other than the yellow card he got for encroaching on the pitch near the end, the Italian pondered whether the officials were impacted by the controversy 24 hours earlier when West Ham's equaliser against Arsenal was ruled out by VAR.
"The first minute until the end of the game the referee went to me if you go out yellow card," he said.
“Maybe they suffer the pressure of yesterday”
"They were not calm today. Maybe they suffer the pressure of yesterday, the West Ham Arsenal game, VAR. We suffered the pressure today, the speed of the ball, the order on the pitch. We didn't play with passion with the ball. We were irrational but also the referee was not calm. I don't know, I can't understand the polemic about VAR yesterday because it was a foul 200 per cent."
Spurs had a big penalty shout in the final seconds, though Gillett did not see Lukas Nmecha's challenge on James Maddison as a foul and VAR spotted a slight touch on the ball by the Leeds attacker.
"I haven't seen it and I don't want to come inside the polemic," said De Zerbi. "Ask me about football if you want. I don't know."
The penalty that was given at the other end was given away by Mathys Tel, who had earlier produced a wonderful strike to put his side ahead. De Zerbi absolved the youngster of blame and expressed pride at how his side battled.
“They are doing a great season”
"A big hug and a big kiss, nothing more," said the Spurs boss. "He's a young player, a big talent, he scored a great goal and he made a mistake for the experience.
“He has not the right experience, he has not played too many games and we have to accept. I'm proud, I'm happy for the mentality we showed.
“We didn't play a great game like in Villa Park. Enough to win. We couldn't lose the game in the end. Before the last 15, 20 minutes they didn't shoot on our goal. Just one in the first half. We had 14 corners against two. Five chances to score against two. We came inside of the goal area 50 times against 27. But we didn't score two goals."
And along with his confidence in his players' ability to get the points they need to stay ahead of the Hammers, De Zerbi has faith that Leeds will have a strong say in what happens when they go to London Stadium on the final day.
"We can't forget their last [league] defeat was the third March at home I think," he said. "And West Ham has to play with Leeds and I think Leeds will play like today with the same spirit, the same qualities. They are doing a great season."