There’s something weird going on this season with Tottenham and referees, who seem to be turning a blind eye to anything illegal the players do, with Jan Vertonghen pulling down the pants of Nicklas Helenius and not getting called for the foul which would have resulted in a penalty kick being the latest of weird decisions.
Jon Moss somehow missed the fact that Jan Vertonghen chased down Helenius (Aston Villa) and pulled down his shorts in order to stop him from scoring. Helenius seemed so confused from the situation he actually kept on playing for a second, shooting at goal. While it might have been the “fair play” to do, it would have been wiser to simply stop and allow the referee to make the right decision, which he should have made in any case, including a red card to the Belgian defender.
It didn’t matter much in the end as Tottenham won 4-0 with goals from Defoe (twice), Paulinho and Chadli, but things might have turned out very differently if the right call would have been made. Similar to the case with Hugo Lloris using his hands outside the box against Cardiff, only much much worse.
The incident came with Tottenham 1-0 in the lead, and second half only starting. It was hard to believe Moss deciding on a goal kick, saving Tottenham from having to go down to 10 men, and denying Aston Villa the equalizer. They fell apart two minutes later.