{"id":7601,"date":"2026-05-12T12:50:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=7601"},"modified":"2026-05-12T12:50:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:50:46","slug":"roberto-de-zerbi-blames-arsenal-game-for-spurs-vs-leeds-referee-not-being-calm-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=7601","title":{"rendered":"Roberto De Zerbi blames Arsenal game for Spurs vs Leeds referee not being ‘calm’ | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n\t\t\"Tottenham\t<\/div>
Roberto De Zerbi has accused someone else of not being calm (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Roberto De Zerbi felt the referee in Tottenham\u2019s draw with Leeds was \u2018not calm\u2019 and he reckons Arsenal\u2019s win at West Ham could be to blame.<\/p>\n

Spurs continued their battle against relegation when they hosted Leeds on Monday night and that fight will continue after a 1-1 draw with the Yorkshire side.<\/p>\n

Mathys Tel scored a fantastic opener for the home team early in the second half, only to give away a penalty which Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored on 74 minutes.<\/p>\n

There were nervy moments late on as Leeds pushed for a winner, with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky pulling off a stunning save from Sean Longstaff, but the match ended level.<\/p>\n

Spurs also had hopes of a late winner, especially when substitute James Maddison went down after a challenge in the penalty area from Lukas Nmecha.<\/p>\n

It was only slight, but it seemed the Leeds forward did get a touch on the ball and nothing was given.<\/p>\n

After seeing a penalty given against his side and not one for, De Zerbi offered an unusual assessment of the match officials, suggesting they lacked calmness after the drama of Arsenal\u2019s win at West Ham on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbrowser that
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsupports HTML5
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo<\/p><\/video>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Tottenham\t<\/div>
Jarred Gillett gave Leeds a penalty after a VAR review (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Gunners picked up a huge three points, partly thanks to a late Hammers goal being ruled out after a VAR intervention.<\/p>\n

On the match officials\u2019 performance on Monday night, De Zerbi said: \u2018I think they were not calm today, maybe they suffered the pressure of yesterday\u2019s Arsenal game.<\/p>\n

\u2018For sure we suffered the pressure today. We didn\u2019t play with passion with the ball, too frenetic but also the referee was not calm today.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Tottenham\t<\/div>
James Maddison thought he had won a penalty late on (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He added on Callum Wilson\u2019s ruled out goal against Arsenal: \u2018I can\u2019t understand the polemic about yesterday\u2019s VAR because it was 200 per cent a foul, not 100 per cent, 200 per cent.\u2019<\/p>\n

With two games to play, Tottenham are 17th, two points and one place clear of West Ham. They also have a significantly better goal difference than their London rivals, which could prove pivotal.<\/p>\n

The Spurs boss thought his team deserved to beat Leeds on Monday, but admitted they were not at the top of their game.<\/p>\n

\u2018We didn\u2019t play a great game \u2013 we played a good game,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Tottenham\t<\/div>
Tottenham have their Premier League fate in their own hands (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I think we deserved to win anyway but maybe the pressure, the crucial game, the crucial part of the season, we suffered too much.<\/p>\n

\u2018Anyway I am happy because I watched my players with the right spirit, with the right mentality.<\/p>\n

\u2018We made too many mistakes. If we want to win we have to reduce the mistakes, but we knew before this game it will be tough until the end of the season, until the last game. It is tough for us and tough for everyone.\u2019<\/p>\n

West Ham go to Newcastle on Sunday evening and can leapfrog Tottenham with a victory, although anything less and Spurs can put the relegation battle to bed before the final weekend of the season.<\/p>\n

Tottenham go to Chelsea on the evening of Tuesday May 19.<\/p>\n

The final day of the campaign sees Spurs host Everton and West Ham face Leeds in east London.<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Paul Scholes names Arsenal star who \u2018suits\u2019 playing right-back as injury crisis looms<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: William Gallas tells Chelsea to snub Cesc Fabregas and appoint La Liga manager instead<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Jamie Carragher praises Arsenal for making \u2018brave\u2019 transfer decision<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tComment now<\/title>\n<\/svg><\/span>
\n\t\t\tComments<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<\/svg><\/span>
\n\t\t\t\tAdd as preferred source<\/span>
\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roberto De Zerbi has accused someone else of not being calm (Picture: Getty Images) Roberto…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}