Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Eagles soar despite absence of Covid-hit gaffer
TOTTENHAM boss Antonio Conte knows his side missed an opportunity in a 1-1 draw at 10-man Southampton but opted to keep his counsel on the VAR controversy that saw two goals disallowed.
Spurs were denied by the video review system as they chased the three points at St Mary’s after Harry Kane’s penalty had earlier cancelled out James Ward-Prowse’s stunning opener for Saints.
Ward-Prowse found the far corner with a firsttime effort in the 25th minute but Kane rifled in from the spot after Son Heung-min was chopped down five minutes before the break by Mohammed Salisu, who was shown a red card.
It was all Spurs in the second half and Kane saw a goal cancelled out for offside, which did not look obvious on VAR, and then referee Anthony Taylor adjudged Fraser Forster to have been fouled when he dropped the ball under an innocuous challenge from Matt Doherty.
“Yeah, I think Harry scored twice, one a penalty and then the second goal. I think that I don’t want to comment on the referee decision or the VAR decision,” Conte said.
“They are there to try to do their best. We hope every time that they make the best decision.”
On his side’s inability to get past 10 men in the second half, the Italian added: “My demands are very high because I am used to being competitive and to win, and for me there is a big disappointment when we don’t win.
“I understand also the situation. We have to work a lot and it won’t be easy to fight for something this season.
“We need to improve a lot, it was an opportunity that we missed. When you have this type of situation you have to try to exploit, to try to get three points.”
CRYSTAL Palace assistant boss Osian Roberts admitted he is not enjoying filling the void of isolating boss Patrick Vieira but was delighted to see players step up in the absence of key figures during the 3-0 win over Norwich.
A positive Covid-19 test last week saw Vieira missing on the touchline for the second game in a row and the Eagles had several others unavailable including Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher, but three first-half goals earned them more success at Selhurst Park.
Odsonne Edouard opened the scoring from the penalty spot after eight minutes, before Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jeffrey Schlupp made the most of their starts to find the net during the opening 45 minutes, with a fourth victory of the campaign at home enough to move Palace up to ninth.
“We try to work in a way that makes sure we are not too reliant on one or two players to be match-winners for us, it is important everyone contributes, so I am delighted the other players stepped up,” Roberts said.
Palace had lost 3-0 at Tottenham on Boxing Day and saw Zaha sent off to leave them further depleted for the visit of Norwich but Roberts and co were able to give Vieira something to smile about at home.
The club confirmed the positive coronavirus result for the former
Arsenal captain on Boxing Day and, with West Ham set to visit on Saturday, the Eagles could again be without their manager.
In yesterday’s other Premier League game, West Ham beat depleted Watford 4-1 at Vicarage Road. Emmanuel Dennis gave the home side an early lead but the Hammers hit back with goals by Tomas Soucek, Said Benrahma, a Mark Noble penalty and Nikola Vlasic.