Tottenham news: Ex-Fifa official claims Son goal v Southampton should have been disallowed
Keith Hackett insists Heung-Min Son’s goal for Tottenham against Southampton on Wednesday should have been disallowed.
The ex-FIFA and Premier League referee, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claims referee David Coote “didn’t apply common sense”.
In the build-up to Tottenham’s second goal, Emerson Royal challenged for a header with Saints striker Armando Broja.
This left the Chelsea loanee in a heap on the floor, clutching his head.
Tottenham then went forward and Son gave Spurs a 2-1 lead.
Hackett insists concussion protocols weren’t followed as Coote should have stopped play as soon as it was clear Broja had injured his head.
“Concussion is at the forefront of the game at the moment,” Hackett told Football Insider correspondent Ben Wild.
“There is no doubt in my mind, when a player goes down holding his head, you have to stop play.
“When you look at this incident, a number of players switch off because they are expecting the whistle.
“The referee didn’t apply common sense and stop play, he was trying to be too clever on what was a big call.
“I think this is down to inexperience. That, or he didn’t see the head was involved.
“Hopefully the referee will learn from it and I can only hope we see better attention paid to these rules in future.”
Southampton managed to turn the game around and left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a 3-2 win.
Spurs are next in action against Wolves on Sunday (13 February).
In other news, Man United in pole position to sign Ashley Phillips ahead of Chelsea, Tottenham and Everton.