‘Furious’ pundit blasts ‘pathetic’ Spurs star for his antics against Chelsea

Stephen Warnock has blasted Emerson Royal for going to ground when Hakim Ziyech lashed out at him, describing the Brazilian’s antics as pathetic.

As one would expect from a London derby, the fixture on Sunday was quite feisty and an altercation broke out between the two sets of players just before half-time.

Replays showed that after Emerson had barged into Ziyech, the Chelsea star had thrown a hand in the direction of the 23-year-old, with the Tottenham man going down clutching his face.

After having conversations with his linesman, referee Stuart Attwell proceeded to show a yellow card to Emerson and send off Ziyech.

However, Attwell then re-watched the incident on the touchline monitor after VAR’s intervention, and decided to withdraw the red card and show the Moroccan a yellow one instead.

The controversial incident did not matter in the end, with Spurs running out 2-0 winners, courtesy of goals from Oliver Skipp and Hary Kane in the second half.

Warnock does not think Emerson covered himself in glory with the way he conducted himself during the incident.

The former Aston Villa left-back told Sky Sports Football Daily: “It was embarrassing from Emerson Royal. I was so angry when I saw it. You’re on VAR, everyone can see what you’re doing.

“He instigates the whole thing. The way he hits the ground, why try and do that? Pathetic. I was furious.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Most players go down when they feel some contact on their faces in order to bring the referee’s attention to the incident.

However, I do see Warnock is coming from as Ziyech seemed to initially catch Emerson on the shoulder rather than the face and the Tottenham man did make the most of it.

I believe Attwell made the right decision in rescinding his red card and showing Ziyech a yellow but as many have pointed out, the referee was clearly about to book the Moroccan for his initial tackle before the melee broke out between the two sets of players.

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