James Trafford of Manchester City had forgotten the afternoon after Pep Guardiola decided to keep him in the starting lineup before Edason.
City lost 2-0 as Tottenham entered the 5-way title race, and Guardiola’s side appeared to have returned worriedly to himself at 2024-25 after an impressive first-day victory over the Wolves.
Brennan Johnson opened the score after Richarrison beat an offside trap before squared the ball for Welsman in the 35th minute, and the Spurs doubled the lead on a halftime stroke thanks to a pass-out from behind by Trafford.
Read more: Tottenham enters 5-way title races when Frank dumps all traces at a record time
Nico Gonzalez shouldn’t show the ball, but that’s not an excuse for Trafford’s supervised pass. This was attacked by Pipe Matal Saar before Joa Parkigna’s biased shot found the back of the net.
And many fans watching the game would have thought they were lucky to be still on the pitch after Trafford raced from his goal of denialing the Mohammed Kudus moment.
After Kudus controlled the ball bouncing off his chest, Trafford appeared to handle the ball outside the box, catching Ghana’s international height in his chest with his knees.
The city regained its property as a free kick was not awarded to the Spurs and Trafford was not punished, and Kudos fell to the pitch.
While some on social media suggest that Trafford’s knee to Kudos’ chest is an aspect of the incident that is punishable, the BBC focused on potential handball in explaining the lack of intervention from var.
The report states:
‘Although all incidents are seen in the VAR room, only those deemed worthy of intervention have been reviewed by on-field judges.
‘BBC Sport understands that Pgmol, the Premier League umpire, felt that Trafford’s hands were down to his side and his body was in close proximity to the incident, making Var not intervene.
“Secondly, goalkeepers who handle the ball outside the box are not automatic red cards.
“There are many considerations that the referee (or VAR) must take, such as clear scoring opportunities, distance between the offense and targets, direction of play, and whether or not they denied the location and number of defenders around the incident.”
After the game, former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock asked, “Why don’t players want to move to the Spurs?”
He added: “Amazing stadiums, great facilities, great managers, Champions League football.
“This is a man (Thomas Frank) who has long deserved this opportunity.
“The Premier League is tough enough and I always thought he would be successful to do that on the budget that Brentford had.”
