´I don´t celebrate goals any more´ – Postecoglou bemoans VAR after Arsenal defeat

Ange Postecoglou admitted “I don’t celebrate goals any more” after VAR denied Tottenham during their north London derby defeat by Arsenal.

Spurs were beaten 3-2 by their rivals, who kept their Premier League title challenge on track, despite a late rally having trailed 3-0 at half-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Trailing 1-0 to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own-goal, the hosts thought they had equalised when Micky van de Ven slotted past David Raya, However, the decision to award the goal was overturned following a VAR review with the defender adjudged to be offside.

Arsenal took advantage of their let-off with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz increasing their lead, while second-half strikes from Cristiano Romero and Heung-Min Son proved academic for Tottenham.

“Games aren’t refereed in the stadium any more,” Postecoglou told reporters during his post-match press conference. “I don’t celebrate goals any more.

“You’ve got to wait for somebody down the road. It’s a shame, I don’t like it, but I’ve got to accept it.”

5 – All five of the own goals scored in Premier League North London derbies have been by Tottenham players, with all five also putting Arsenal 1-0 up (Armstrong in March 2000, Wimmer in November 2016, Lloris in January 2023, Romero in September 2023, Højbjerg today). Familiar. pic.twitter.com/inG3MExyDC

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 28, 2024

The Spurs boss was pleased with his side’s response after the break, and hopes his players will benefit from the disappointment of losing the derby.

“It’s a big day for our club and our fans, and we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, so it’s obviously very disappointing,” he added on SpursTalk.

“You can go out in the second half and accept your fate that it’s not your day, but we had to show some resilience and fight – just for our supporters more than anything else. To be fair to the lads, they did that.

“We just lacked some focus today in key moments, particularly in the first half. Sometimes, you’ve got to feel the pain of it to learn that lesson properly.”