Football: Spurs considering appeal over Son's red card in Gomes incident as pundits slam ref's decision

LONDON (AFP/REUTERS) - Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has hinted the club may appeal against Son Heung-min's red card following the horrific injury suffered by Everton's Andre Gomes in the 1-1 Premier League draw on Sunday (Nov 3).

Pochettino - whose side were denied a first away win in the league since January with a late stoppage-time equaliser from Cenk Tosun - blamed the video assistant referee (VAR) for the red card as the South Korean had been initially just booked.

The 26-year-old Portuguese international's injury - a fracture dislocation to his right ankle which he will have surgery on Monday - occurred as his momentum from Son's trip saw him crash into Spurs defender Serge Aurier.

It was a confusing situation all round as Son's attempted tackle made minimal contact with Gomes but the Portuguese midfielder then landed off balance at speed.

Pochettino - whose side remain in the bottom half in 11th place with 13 points from their first 11 games - expressed his sorrow for Gomes but said a visibly distressed Son had not intended to provoke such an injury.

"It was clear it was never the intention of Son to create the problem that happened afterwards," said Pochettino.

"It is unbelievable to see a red card. In that situation, we need to help because the decision of the referee was a yellow card but the VAR changed the decision.

"It is the latest example of it being not clear. VAR needs to check if it was a bad tackle from Son and judge the action, not what happened after.

"I don't know what will happen now (in terms of an appeal). The club will see if it is possible but what we cannot change is what happened after (the incident)."

Pochettino's view was echoed by many former players and pundits alike.

Keith Hackett, former head of the Professional Game of Match Officials Limited, told BBC 5 Live Breakfast that the decision to send Son off was "100 per cent incorrect".

"The trip was deliberate and warranted a yellow card", he said. "Referees have to show a little bit of compassion at times like this, Martin Atkinson's a very experienced referee, he's produced the yellow card, he was correct and VAR unnecessarily suggested to him that it should be red which was almost like, 'Let's cover our back on this one' and I think that's unfortunate."

"Shocking decision to send Son off but that's insignificant in the scheme of things," former Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen added.

"Son clearly massively upset. Without the injury he wouldn't have been shown a red card," added former Everton and Tottenham striker Gary Lineker who also attacked VAR. "In its present state it is killing the game. It's being used to referee the game rather than something in the background to correct the absolute howler."

The Premier League issued a statement after the game to clarify why the card had been upgraded, in which it said: "The red card for Son was for endangering the safety of a player which happened as a consequence of his initial challenge."

Pochettino expressed his gratitude in the way the Everton players handled the incident and especially the behaviour of the captain Seamus Coleman, who suffered a similar injury in March 2017.

"The players from Everton were fantastic," said the Spurs manager. "The captain came to the dressing room to console Son. I want to say thank you to the players and Coleman, who came in on behalf of the squad of Everton."

Tosun said he and his team-mates could not understand what Gomes was saying.

"Everybody is sad inside. Some players, they nearly cried," said the Turkey international.

"He was in shock, his eyes were open so big. He was like crying, shouting and screaming.

"I just tried to hold him and speak to him. I tried to tell him to stay calm. We couldn't understand him."

Gomes has received plenty of messages of support, ranging from players in the Portugal national team to his former team-mates at Barcelona. Among Premier League players, Dele Alli, who scored Tottenham's goal in the match.