At a glance:
- Dermot Gallagher on Bissoua-Andre challenge
- Brazilian was booked for rash tackle
- Anthony Taylor made the right call
Tottenham finally broke their Premier League duck in 2026 as they secured a hard-fought 1-0 win against Wolves at Molineux.
A late goal from Joao Palhinha was enough to give Roberto De Zerbi his first win in charge of the club in his third attempt.
The game had its fair share of talking points. Tottenham lost Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons to injuries, with the latter ruled out of the rest of the season after rupturing his ACL.
There was also a potential red card challenge involving Yves Bissouma and Andre, which generated a lot of chatter online.
And now, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has had his say on the passage of play.
Gallagher plays down claims that Tottenham were robbed
Over the course of the current campaign, Tottenham have been on the wrong end of some truly horrific refereeing decisions.
Against Sunderland, Brian Brobbey intentionally pushed Cristian Romero onto Antonin Kinsky but went unpunished despite already being on a yellow card.
The Premier League later admitted that Brobbey should have been sent off, but it made no difference as they ended up losing the game.
A clear handball and a foul were missed in the West Ham vs Everton game, which obviously makes a huge difference for Tottenham, considering the state of the relegation battle.
A similar incident came under question in the game against Wolves.
Towards the end of the first half, Wolves midfielder Andre lunged in on Bissouma and caught him. However, he got away with just a yellow card, much to the anguish of the away faithful.
And now, Gallagher feels that on-field referee Anthony Taylor made the right decision.
“I think yes,” said Gallagher when asked if Andre deserved only a yellow card.
“He slips when he goes to make the tackle, no force and intensity, and it’s low. I think Anthony Taylor has got it right. He doesn’t make the challenge he intended to make.”
Tottenham shafted by officiating standards
To be honest, we can see where Gallagher is coming from. Such challenges have led to sending-offs before, but it wasn’t a stone wall red card.
That said, it’s hard to ignore the decisions that have gone against Tottenham this season.
The North London outfit are where they are due to their own shortcomings, make no mistake.
However, the standard of officiating has been appalling and inconsistent at times, which goes to show just how small the margins are at the very top.
We wrote earlier that referee Rob Jones won’t be a popular man in Tottenham if they go down, as he missed the foul from Brobbey on Romero.
And if we dig deeper, there are at least a handful of other crucial decisions we can bring up, but none of it matters now as it’s in the past.
Tottenham face Aston Villa next and need to continue their newfound momentum if they are to stand a chance of avoiding the drop.
