Former Celtic and Blackburn Rovers striker, Chris Sutton has criticised Spurs forward Son Heung-min along with Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Watford’s Gerard Deulofeu for trying to con the referee.
All three players were involved in penalty claims at the weekend and while the Watford man was handed a spot-kick, Son’s appeal against Everton was waved off by VAR and Mane was booked for diving against Aston Villa.
Reacting to Pep Guardiola’s comments accusing Mane of going down easy against Villa (Sky Sports), Sutton agreed with the Manchester City manager’s assessment and also criticized Son and Deulofeu for making the most of minimal contact on the weekend.
Speaking to the Monday Night Club on BBC Radio 5 Live (04/11/19 at 7:25 pm), Sutton said, “All he [Guardiola] has done is put a seed in Michael Oliver’s [referee for Sunday’s game between Liverpool and Man City] mind. If there’s an incident with Sadio Mane, what’s he [the referee] going to do?
“Sadio Mane, is he a diver? Does he go down too easily? Yes, he does. You have to say it. There have been times when he has gone down too easily. And Pep has seen it that’s why he has said it.
“You have to make it a good one [if you dive]. You do! At the weekend, Son went down easily, in my opinion. Deulofeu [for Watford]. We have seen plenty of players do it this season. If you are going to do it make sure you don’t get caught.”
While VAR did check these as well as many of the other controversial calls this weekend, the system has been coming under heavy criticism for their failure to intervene during obvious errors.
Spurs Web Opinion
While there is no doubt that Son went down too dramatically, his foot actually did get caught under the defender and there could be a case made for a foul. So, I don’t think it is fair of accusing the South Korean of diving. However, I believe Atkinson got that particular decision correct.
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