Roberto De Zerbi has been asked about the controversial penalty call during Tottenham’s 2-1 loss against Stamford Bridge.
Spurs have been on the receiving end of some contentious decisions of late, with Tottenham fans still in disbelief that the Lilywhites have not been handed a single penalty in the Premier League this season.
They could have had one at Stamford Bridge after the referee booked Marc Cucurella for bundling Micky van de Ven to the ground during a Tottenham Hotspur corner.
However, the referee felt the foul occurred before the corner had been taken by Mathys Tel, and VAR agreed with that assessment.
Roberto De Zerbi does not want Tottenham to lose energy thinking about the penalty decision
There is a huge debate raging on social media over whether the ball was in play when Van de Ven fouled, and from the evidence, it seems like the Tottenham players had every right to feel hard done by.
However, De Zerbi refused to discuss the incident in his post-match press conference, insisting that he is now only thinking about the upcoming clash against Everton.
When asked if Tottenham should have been awarded a penalty when Van de Ven was brought down, the Italian told Football.London: “It’s not my business now. My focus is to prepare for the next game and to score points.”
When De Zerbi was asked if he understood why Spurs fans are furious with the decision, especially after the Maddison incident against Everton, he responded: “The fans today have been fantastic, fantastic and we have to say thanks because they were incredible. If we speak about the penalty with Leeds, today we can speak about what you want but we lose focus and we lose energy.
“My focus is to stay on the pitch, to stay in the best first XI I can decide for Sunday and to transfer what I think about this game, about the football and to prepare in the best way the players. I think we played a final, we played an important game but in our stadium and we have two results out of three, so we have to stay alive but any way, it is a big day for us.”
James Maddison is bullish that Spurs should have had a penalty
Maddison has once again not minced his words while talking about the controversial penalty decision at Stamford Bridge.
The Tottenham midfielder has asserted that the ball was in play when Cucurella brought down Van de Ven, insisting that Tottenham deserved a spotkick.
The 29-year-old also confessed that there is a lot of frustration in the dressing room, but he called on his teammates to dust themselves down and give their all on Sunday.