Harry Kane thought he had fired Tottenham Hotspur into the Champions League round of 16. The video assistant referee had other ideas.
Tottenham’s wild celebrations quickly turned to protests when the official ruled Kane’s 95th-minute goal offside Wednesday against Sporting CP. The decision forced the hosts to settle for a 1-1 draw with their Portuguese counterparts and leaves every team in Group D with a chance of progressing to the knockout round next week.
Replays showed that Kane had strayed into an offside position when teammate Emerson Royal headed the ball into the 6-yard box for the English striker to smash home. Though the pass took a deflection off of Sporting substitute Flavio Nazinho, it wasn’t a deliberate play, meaning Kane remained offside regardless of the touch it had taken.
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Spurs manager Antonio Conte was sent off shortly after match official Danny Makkelie confirmed the call.
Conte argued the goal should’ve stood because the ball was ahead of Kane and played back to him. ESPN correspondent Dale Johnson, who tracks VAR decisions on a regular basis, wrote on Twitter that the direction of the ball is irrelevant.
“VAR is creating a lot of (damage),” Conte told BT Sport. “I want to see if we stay in another stadium or another big team if they are ready to disallow this type of goal.”
Rodrigo Bentancur headed in the equalizer in the 80th minute to set up a grandstand finish.
Even with the draw, Conte’s side leads Group D with eight points. Sporting and Eintracht Frankfurt are second on seven points apiece, while Marseille sit on six.