‘Brentford has been robbed’ was the reaction of fans watching the Premier League meeting between The Bees and Tottenham Hotspur after goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was not penalized for a handball outside his box.
Tottenham Hotspur returned to winning ways in the Premier League, building on their mid-week comeback win over Coventry in the Carabao Cup to make it a back-to-back win with another comeback win over Brentford in the London derby.
The host fell behind courtesy of a sensational volley from Cameroonian forward Bryan Mbeumo after just 22 seconds from kickoff. Spurs responded almost immediately through their summer signing Dominic Solanke, who scored his first goal for the club in the eighth minute.
Spurs finds themselves ahead before the half-time mark through Brennan Johnson, who was subjected to online abuses from the fans in the wake of the North London derby loss to Arsenal last weekend. The Welshman kept his composure to beat Mark Flekken with a cool finish.
The points was sealed five minutes from the end of normal time as captain Heung-Min Son gets his second assist of the day, setting up James Maddison for the final goal to take the game beyond the visitors.
‘Brentford has been robbed’ — Fans reaction to Guglielmo Vicario handball
The highlight of the match came during the hour mark, when Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario awkwardly handled the ball outside his own penalty area when he came off his line to claim a cross.
The Italian evidently handled the ball outside his own area but fans were left bemused that despite the VAR intervention, the Goalkeeper was not penalized. It was a crucial decision for the eventual outcome of the game as Tottenham was leading 2-1 at the time, and an accurate decision may have swinged the tide of the match in Brentford’s favour.
The wicked error on the part of John Brooks and his team of officials has triggered reactions amongst fans online. One fan on X, formerly known as Twitter wrote:
“If incidents like Vicario’s handball continue to go unpunished, Teams may feel unfairly treated, and it could impact the outcome of key matches or even influence league standings. Consistency in officiating is crucial to maintain fairness.”
Another fan wrote: “How can 4 match officials and VAR not see this?”
Tottenham Hotspur won 3-1, condemning Brentford to a third league defeat of the season. Thomas Frank said in his postmatch interview: “It was a mistake. It could have been a free-kick to us. It could have helped us. But, hey, you never know.“