Last night, Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Chelsea to Wembley Stadium for the first leg of our EFL Cup semi-final battle.
Spurs certainly weren’t at their best, but the performance was enough to give us a narrow 1-0 advantage going into the second leg at Stamford Bridge and the game swung on a contentious Video Assistant Referee.
Harry Kane played to the whistle as Chelsea went to sleep and got hauled down in the penalty box but the visitors believed he was offside and matchday referee Chris Kavanagh did seek VAR’s help in reviewing the buildup to the penalty.
Ultimately, they decided he was level and the spot kick was awarded and then converted by our England man to give us the victory.
Speaking to Sky Sports as he met with the media following the fulltime whistle, Kane didn’t know for sure whether he was on or offside, but with VAR aiding the referee, he was confident they got the call right.
“I played to the whistle. I ran through and it was a clear penalty. It was whether I was offside or not. I wasn’t sure. VAR is there for a reason and I’m sure they’ve got it right. I’ll have to watch it back and see. I’m used to it after the World Cup, it’s a big part of football going forwards. From our point of view, it doesn’t change much. Chelsea had a point to prove, they didn’t play well last time they were here. It was important we won the game going into the second leg.”
Like all fans, I’ve seen it numerous times now and even I keep changing my mind on whether he’s level or not but the controversy probably suits Chelsea in fairness, as it covers up the fact they had chances but blew it.