Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has criticized Paulo Gazzaniga for his reckless challenge on Marcus Alonso at the end of the first half of the game against Chelsea.
Referee Anthony Taylor initially failed to award Chelsea a penalty and instead blew for a foul on the Spurs goalkeeper. However, VAR overturned Taylor’s call and awarded the away side a spot-kick which Willian converted to put them 2-0 ahead.
That’s how the scores stayed till the end as Spurs struggled to break Chelsea down in the second half particularly after Son Heung-min was given his marching orders.
Neville was left quite baffled by the referee’s failure to give the penalty straight away and said that Gazzaniga’s tackle was akin to assault.
Speaking to Sky Sports Super Sunday during the live broadcast of Spurs v Chelsea on 22/12/19 (as relayed by Football.London), Neville said: “He misses the ball, that’s a penalty, surely? It’s got to be a penalty. It’s a penalty, for me. There was a foul given against Alonso, I don’t know how that can be.
“He’s (Gazzaniga) an erratic goalkeeper, it doesn’t surprise me. It’s ridiculous, it’s an assault.”
After VAR awarded the spot-kick, Neville added: “I was never in doubt, it was a penalty. WWF, reckless from the goalkeeper.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While the mistake from Gazzaniga was a poor one, it is extremely harsh to call him erratic especially after the consistency he has displayed in the last few months. The 27-year-old has been a reliable pair of hands whenever he has been called upon. The club will be hard-pressed to find a more solid No.2 than the Argentinean.
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