Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank launched a furious attack on match officials and the Video Assistant Referee system following his side's chaotic 2-1 home defeat to Premier League champions Liverpool on Saturday 20 December 2025.
Frank's Fury Over Controversial Liverpool Goal
The Brentford boss pinpointed Liverpool's second goal, scored by striker Hugo Ekitike in the 66th minute, as the pivotal and most erroneous moment of the match. Frank insisted that Ekitike should have been penalised for pushing Tottenham captain Cristian Romero in the back before heading home.
"I think the second goal is a mistake from the ref," Frank stated post-match. "I think there's two clear hands on the back. I don't understand it." He argued that such contact is routinely given as a foul elsewhere on the pitch, expressing bewilderment that it was not reviewed or overturned by VAR. "That was the biggest mistake, in my opinion, and from VAR," he concluded.
A Chaotic Encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
The match descended into disorder as Spurs finished the game with only nine players. The first dismissal came when midfielder Xavi Simons was shown a straight red card in the first half for a challenge on Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
Frank contested this decision too, suggesting the game's magnitude influenced the call. "I don't like this as a red card... for me it's not reckless," he said, questioning how a three-game ban could follow a challenge he deemed unintentional.
Romero, who had been booked for protesting Ekitike's goal, was then sent off in stoppage time for kicking out at Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate.
Mixed Reactions from the Managers
Interestingly, Liverpool manager Arne Slot offered some sympathy for Frank's view on Simons's red card, admitting he had seen similar challenges go unpunished. "I don't think he had any intention to do it," Slot said of Simons. "I've seen this season a few times when other teams made the same fouls against us that it wasn't [a red card]."
However, the match-winner, Hugo Ekitike, saw no issue with his decisive goal. "It's part of the game," the French striker asserted. "He is a defender, I'm a striker. I judged the cross better than he did and I took the ball. That is why I scored."
The result leaves Tottenham reflecting on a bitterly disappointing afternoon, overshadowed by contentious refereeing decisions that manager Thomas Frank believes cost his team dearly.
