VAR review backs Spurs after Stamford Bridge win over Chelsea
Tottenham head to Leeds on the back of three straight Premier League wins, and the big talking points this week centre on that victory at Stamford Bridge and how the officials got key moments wrong.
Football.London focuses on the bigger picture behind the run, with Archie Gray and Mateus Fernandes giving their take on what has clicked for Spurs to put together back-to-back-to-back league wins (Football.London). Fernandes himself was central to one of the match's flashpoints against Chelsea, and that incident is where the other two reports zoom in.
ESPN reports that a panel assessing Premier League refereeing and VAR decisions has concluded Cole Palmer should have been sent off for a clash with Fernandes a full ten minutes before he was eventually shown his card (ESPN). The Sun goes further, stating plainly that Palmer deserved a straight red for his "retaliation" on the Spurs midfielder (The Sun).
The Sun also adds that Tottenham were wrongly denied a penalty during the same win, pointing to further VAR errors in a match Spurs ultimately came out on top in at Stamford Bridge (The Sun). ESPN's panel verdict and The Sun's reporting broadly agree on the central complaint - that Fernandes was on the receiving end of a moment that should have reduced Chelsea to ten men much earlier than it did.
For Tottenham fans, the common thread across all three stories is Fernandes' growing importance to this side, whether that's his role in a winning run highlighted by Football.London (Football.London), or as the player at the centre of the officiating controversy picked up by ESPN (ESPN) and The Sun (The Sun). With three Premier League wins in a row now banked, there's a real sense of momentum building before the trip to Leeds.
It all adds a bit of spice to how Spurs' win at Chelsea is remembered - a result secured despite what both ESPN and The Sun suggest was a missed red card and a missed penalty call. Attention now turns to continuing that winning run on the road against Leeds.
Written with the help of AI, using the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
