Alan Shearer criticises Cristian Romero after Tottenham defeat

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Alan Shearer has told Match of the Day that he cannot believe Cristian Romero took an extra touch rather than play Son Heung-min in immediately when the Tottenham centre-back was the surprise recipient of a ‘brilliant’ long-range pass from Harry Kane.

Saturday proved to be a miserable day for Antonio Conte’s men. They suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season. And of course, it was one of the games which supporters were more desperate to win than any other.

The visiting fans could have few complaints with the result. But Tottenham did have their moments to silence the home crowd.

Shearer criticises Cristian Romero

Harry Kane equalised from the penalty spot during the first-half. And from there, Spurs were arguably the better side up until half-time.

They had plenty of openings where they were one better pass away from being through on goal. And one such incident came in the second-half when Romero continued his burst forward after winning back possession.

Kane managed to pick him out with a superb ball from inside his own half. And the pass left Romero just needing to slide the ball across to Son, who had got away from the Arsenal defence.

However, the Argentinian seemingly decided to try and bring the bouncing ball under control. And that allowed the Gunners to deal with the situation.

Shearer was left in disbelief.

“Brilliant from Harry Kane, into Romero. What on earth is he doing thinking of taking another touch? Just roll that across and he’s got a simple tap-in to the goal,” he told Match of the Day.

“But he takes another touch which then allows a defender to get back. Chance gone.”

Tottenham approaching defining period in their season

It will be interesting to see where Tottenham go from here.

Ahead of the game, Spurs were sat third in the table. And they were one of the two sides still unbeaten in the top-flight. However, they had not played really well in the opening weeks of the campaign.

That could have obviously been a sign that things were not clicking under Conte. Or, ominously for their rivals, Spurs were still picking up plenty of points while building up to something much more impressive.

Saturday’s loss will feel like a huge setback. It is now even more imperative that their best form returns as soon as possible.