Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou believes referees are too "reluctant" to make decisions on potential fouls on goalkeepers from set-pieces after his side threw away a pair of one-goal leads in a 2-2 draw with Everton.
For the fifth Premier League game running at Goodison Park, the Toffees and the Lilywhites shared the spoils in a frenzied battle, where two Richarlison strikes were cancelled out by Jack Harrison and Jarrad Branthwaite.
After erstwhile Everton man Richarlison had propelled Tottenham into an early lead with a sublime side-footed volley, Everton upped the ante and were consistently targeting Guglielmo Vicario from set-pieces, a move which eventually paid dividends.
Under pressure from Harrison, Vicario flapped at an inswinger from Dwight McNeil, whose delivery was sent back across goal by James Tarkowski, and a Dominic Calvert-Lewin header deflected off of Harrison's knee and into the net.
Harrison was clearly backing into Vicario as the ball floated towards the back post, leaving the Italian incensed, but Michael Oliver did not blow for a foul, and the VAR room also upheld the referee's on-field decision.
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Everton's equaliser was similar to Nathan Ake's winning goal for Manchester City in the FA Cup against Tottenham, where Vicario believed he was being obstructed by Ruben Dias, and Postecoglou - a staunch critic of VAR - is concerned that referees are too hesitant to make those decisions on the field.
"It doesn't really matter if I've got complaints. It just seems to be that, maybe just with us, but just in general I think referees are reluctant to call these now and will leave it to VAR to decide those decisions. We've just got to cop it," Postecoglou told his post-match press conference.
"It's not like they've had two set pieces and scored two goals. They've had about 30 set pieces and it's just stuff you've got to deal with. It just feels like at the moment any sort of contact in the box referees are reluctant to call and then it comes down to VAR intervention which I don't like anyway. We've just got to deal with what's there in front of us and move on."
Despite the contentious nature of the goal, Harrison's leveller was merited owing to Everton's improvement, although Tottenham restored their advantage before half time thanks to another stunning finish from Richarlison at his old stomping ground.
Neither side strung together many free-flowing attacking sequences during a tense second half, but Spurs were ultimately undone by another set piece in injury time, as James Garner's free kick was glanced onto the back post by Cristian Romero, who inadvertently set up Branthwaite for a close-range header.
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Spurs' failure to see the game out saw them miss the chance to leapfrog Arsenal into third place in the Premier League table, and they will end the weekend outside of the top four if Aston Villa at least manage a draw against Sheffield United.
Postecoglou lamented his side's failure to put the game to bed after a gut-wrenching late equaliser for the Toffees, adding: "It's obviously a difficult place to come and play and dominate. For the most part I thought we handled it ok. The first half we started the game well but lost a bit of our composure to just keep the ball a bit better in that first half.
"Second half I thought was ok, we created some good chances and probably needed a third just to kill the game off because you know what's going to happen in the last 10 minutes. Really disappointed to then concede so late.
"We needed another goal because what was going to happen in the last 10 minutes was almost inevitable regardless of what you do that you're going to be under pressure here. That's why we needed a little bit of a buffer. We had the opportunities, Pickford pulled off some good saves to be fair so they kind of kept them in the game. It's just something we've got to take on the chin and move on."
Tottenham have a full week to dwell on Saturday's result before they host Brighton & Hove Albion in North London on February 10.
Ben Knapton
