Mike Dean explains his infamous Spurs goal celebration against Aston Villa

Referee Mike Dean certainly splits opinion among fans as after being involved in his fair share of controversial incidents over the years.

We covered the fact that some Spurs fans were far from pleased to learn that Dean had been appointed to be the man in the middle for Tottenham’s home game against Manchester City this afternoon.

Dean has officiated in two of Tottenham’s games to date this season and the North Londoners were beaten on both occasions, by Newcastle and Southampton (thisisfutbol).

Ahead of the game later today, the 51-year-old has now lifted the lid on one of the most discussed incidents from his career – his apparent celebration of Mousa Dembele’s goal against Aston Villa in 2015.

Dembele scored the game’s opening goal in what turned out to be a 3-1 win for Spurs but Dean was bizarrely seen celebrating by pumping his hands when the midfielder put the ball in the back of the net.

However, the 51-year-old has now clarified that he was celebrating his decision to play the advantage when Dembele was fouled in the build-up to the goal.

Speaking about the incident, Dean told the BBC: “I wouldn’t say it was a goal celebration, I was celebrating an advantage.

“As you can see, but I kind of got carried away with the whole day really.

“It is a foul and I’ve played on, probably shouldn’t have put my arms out but it was good.”

Spurs Web Opinion

While there is obviously little love lost between Mike Dean and Spurs fans, I genuinely think that the reputation that the 51-year-old has developed is quite unfair. When some of his antics are certainly questionable, I actually believe he is one of the better referees in the Premier League.

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