Ryan Yates has called for more consistency from the officials after James Maddison was unpunished for the pair’s altercation at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In the dying stage of the first half of Tottenham’s clash with Forest, Yates went down holding his stomach and signalled to the referee that VAR should take a look.
The replays showed that the midfielder had shoved Maddison and had gone down when the Tottenham man retaliated with an arm in his midriff.
Nuno Espirito Santo insisted after the game that the England international had punched Yates in the stomach and that the VAR should have asked the on-field referee to take another look at the incident (Sky Sports).
However, both Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp dismissed the incident out of hand, insisting that the Forest star had gone down too easily (Sky Sports).
Ryan Yates was trying to get under Maddison’s skin
Yates himself has now spoken about the incident, admitting that he wanted to get under Maddison’s skin.
The 26-year-old said (via Football.London): “James Maddison is a good player, I know he makes them tick. It’s my job to disrupt the momentum. A few decisions probably didn’t go our way but we’ve seen the inconsistency in the Premier League this season.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It would have been extremely harsh if Maddison had been sent off for that but the midfielder did get away with it as some other official in the VAR room might have seen that incident differently. The England international lost his composure for a split second and almost ended up costing his side dearly.