Antonio Conte: Tottenham boss hits out at VAR call that disallowed Harry Kane’s late winner against Sporting | Football News

Antonio Conte fumed at the decision to disallow Harry Kane’s late winner in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Sporting Lisbon before walking out of his post-match press conference after answering just one question.

Spurs thought they had come from behind to beat the Portuguese side and book their place in the Champions League knockout stages when Kane swept home from close range in stoppage time.

But, after a lengthy VAR check, the England captain was ruled to be offside, meaning Spurs will have to avoid defeat away to Marseille next week to qualify for the last 16.

Conte was sent off for his reaction to the decision and admitted he was still “really upset” when he took his one and only question from reporters in his press conference shortly after full-time.

“All the people came onto the pitch and then the referee decided to send me off,” explained Conte. “I think there are moments where you can understand you have just disallowed a regular goal because the ball is in front of Kane.

“You know that I don’t comment on the referee’s decision but the VAR this season in the Premier League and the Champions League, we are not so lucky.

“I think it creates a big damage. I’d like to see this type of decision with a top team in an important game, I’d like to see if the VAR is so brave to take this decision – I repeat an unfair decision because the ball is in front of Kane.

“Sorry but I’m really upset because sometimes you can accept this situation but sometimes I think it’s not good because I don’t see honesty in this type of situation and when I don’t see this I become really, really upset.

“For the game, I think we played the first half with low intensity and Sporting Lisbon deserved to stay 1-0 up. At the end of the game, after our second half, I think we deserved to get three points. But now for this decision we have to wait for the last game against Marseille.”

Conte also urged Tottenham to “speak to the right people”, particularly if they end up missing out on qualification for the knockout stages.

He said: “I repeat, this decision creates a big damage. I hope the club understands this and then in the right situation to speak with the people that they have to speak to, otherwise it’s only the manager that speaks.

“I think the club must be strong because this situation has created a big, big damage. Now we don’t know what happens next week and if we go out then I want to see.”

Why was Kane’s goal disallowed?

Kane was behind Emerson Royal when the Spurs wing-back nodded the ball back towards him in the Sporting area. The ball deflected off a defender and dropped in front of Kane, who finished first time to seemingly win the game for the hosts.

However, following a VAR check that took several minutes and left those in the stadium unsure whether Tottenham had indeed sealed their place in the next round, it was determined that Kane was slightly in front of the ball when Emerson headed it in his direction and was therefore offside.

Can you be offside from a backwards pass?

Yes. If the ball is passed backwards but the receiving player is ahead of the ball when it is played, they can still be offside upon receiving it. In this case, because the deflection that took the ball into Kane’s path is not considered a deliberate play, Kane’s offside position was not reset.

This kind of incident is rarely seen and is no doubt a painful one for Spurs but, despite their protestations – Eric Dier shouted “the ball went backwards!” to officials after the game – this was done by the book.