Mauricio Pochettino refused to criticise the officials or VAR after Tottenham slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday. Tottenham took the lead during the first half of the match through Harry Kane and they thought they had doubled their advantage when Serge Aurier found the back of the net after the restart, but VAR ruled that strike out for the tightest of offsides against Son Heung-min.
The North Londoners were made to rue that decision, as Leicester went on to turn the match on its head, as goals from Ricardo Pereira and James Maddison helped Brendan Rodgers’ side record a 2-1 victory.
The Foxes also had a goal ruled out during the match and VAR was a hot topic of conversation once the final whistle blew, although Pochettino refused to blame the technology or any of the officials for his side’s defeat. “That (Aurier’s disallowed goal) changed the emotions,” said Pochettino.
“They started to push and they found a way to score the goal. I am not blaming VAR, I am only saying at 2-0 the game would be different. “I will only say that we all accept the system. I trust in the referee and if the referee says it was or wasn’t I am not going to complain. “I accept the rules of the game are completely fair. I am not disappointed by that, I am disappointed by the two goals.”
Despite losing the match, Pochettino was pleased by Spurs’ overall performance at the King Power Stadium, as he felt they dominated for large periods. “I think the performance was fantastic. I think we did the game for more than 80 minutes being the best team on the pitch but the last minutes completely change the feeling,” the Argentine added.
Spurs have now only won two of their last nine Premier League games – a run that dates back to last season – and they could find themselves as many as 10 points behind leaders Liverpool by the end of the weekend.
Pochettino’s side are next in action when they visit League Two Colchester in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, while their next league match will be a home clash with Southampton the following Saturday.
