BBC pundit says referee made ‘staggering’ decision on Micky van de Ven during Spurs win

Add as preferred source on Google

Tottenham Hotspur opened their Champions League campaign with a victory, but Micky van de Ven almost cost his side against Villarreal.

Thomas Frank saw Tottenham Hotspur destroy West Ham United over the weekend, but he witnessed a much more nervy display against Villarreal.

The La Liga side were Tottenham’s first opponents of the Champions League league phase, and they gifted Spurs the lead.

Goalkeeper Luiz Junior fumbled Lucas Bergvall’s cross into his own net, handing Tottenham an early advantage.

Spurs failed to kick on and just about held onto a 1-0 win to start their Champions League campaign with all three points.

• READ MORE: Mark Clattenburg says referee got it completely ‘wrong’ on Xavi Simons incident in Spurs win vs Villarreal

Chris Sutton on Micky van de Ven incident in Tottenham Hotspur win

Villarreal went close on a number of occasions in the second half, as Tottenham just couldn’t stop giving the ball away.

Former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe was a real threat, but Villarreal failed to make Tottenham pay.

Villarreal did have a shout for a penalty late on, as Micky van de Ven bundled Georges Mikautadze over.

Mikautadze went down inside the box, but contact was first made outside of the box, so a free-kick and a yellow card were given.

Tottenham survived that moment, and Van de Ven avoided a red card, much to the bemusement of pundit Chris Sutton.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Sutton suggested that Van de Ven had denied a goalscoring opportunity and should have been sent off.

Sutton called the decision to award a yellow card ‘very odd’ and ‘staggering’, seemingly believing that Tottenham had escaped severe punishment.

“The foul is outside the penalty area, and if so, surely that is a red card for Van de Ven? That is very odd that it’s been awarded as a yellow,” said Sutton.

“That’s a staggering call. It’s a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity,” he added.

Xavi Simons also avoided a red card, so perhaps Spurs were a little fortunate with a couple of second-half moments.

Micky van de Ven on Tottenham Hotspur’s defensive record

Tottenham were wide open under Ange Postecoglou, but have been much stronger defensively since the arrival of Thomas Frank in North London.

Spurs have kept three clean sheets in four Premier League games, and have now added a European clean sheet to their record.

Van de Ven may have risked putting his side in real trouble with his foul on Mikautadze, but Spurs can be delighted with another clean sheet.

Speaking to Amazon Prime Video after the final whistle, Van de Ven admitted that he was concerned that his foul on Mikautadze could have been a red card, but felt a yellow was fair.

Van de Ven added that Tottenham are working better as a team defensively under Frank, even showing comfort in a low block when required.

“I think we know how to do it, the whole team, to be honest, of course, as a defence, we have worked on quite a lot of things,” said Van de Ven.

“With the whole team, I think we work and our tactical understanding is better. We defend all together, we attack all together, and even if we have to come into a compact block, we know what to do,” he added.

Van de Ven has enjoyed a brilliant start to the season alongside Cristian Romero, and will be delighted to have marked his first Champions League appearance with a win and a clean sheet, rather than a red card.