Former referee claims Watford should have been awarded penalty against Spurs

Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has claimed Watford should have been awarded a penalty during the 1-0 loss against Tottenham.

The Hornets were beaten by Spurs in the dying embers of the New Year’s Day encounter when Davinson Sanchez rose highest to nod in a free-kick from Heung-min Son.

However, the fixture at Vicarage Road didn’t come without controversy, as hosts Watford felt they deserved a spot kick when Hugo Lloris challenged an onrushing Joao Pedro.

The Spurs captain raced to the feet of the Brazilian forward and despite Pedro going down under the challenge, referee Robert Jones deemed Lloris to have made enough contact with the ball.

However, Jones’ decision to wave away appeals has been disagreed with by Hackett, who feels the official lacked the confidence needed to make the call.

Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “The referee’s in a great position. He’s had a whisper in his ear because he’s touched his communication kit.

“I think that’s a penalty kick. If I was Watford I’d be moaning about that decision.Okay, there’s a bit of action by the player but I do think that’s a penalty kick.

“It’s a tight call. Lloris has brought him down and that’s a penalty kick.

“We’ve got a relatively new referee on the list. He’s got to have the confidence to make the calls as he sees them. Looking at his body language, it wasn’t convincing.

“If he wasn’t going to give a penalty kick against Lloris he should have nodded his head and said ‘Come on, get on with the game’.

“His hand’s gone to his ear because he’s getting a whisper from the VAR to tell him it’s not a penalty kick.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Lloris did make contact with the ball, and it was enough to deviate it away from its intended destination past him. Then Spurs had a couple of big penalty incidents waved away by the referee. Ultimately, this was a case of an official lacking Premier League experience that was poor for both sides.

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