{"id":2330,"date":"2026-05-19T23:54:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=2330"},"modified":"2026-05-19T23:54:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:54:54","slug":"roberto-de-zerbi-refused-to-be-drawn-on-late-penalty-claim-for-tottenham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=2330","title":{"rendered":"Roberto De Zerbi refused to be drawn on late penalty claim for Tottenham"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"main\">\n<div class=\"hydrate-root sc-1ihz57b-0\" data-component=\"Newsletter\" data-loading=\"lazy\" data-theme-name=\"independent\">\n<div data-theme-wrapper=\"independent\" style=\"display:contents\">\n<aside class=\"sc-y4bm30-0 jwWhkK newsletter-component sc-1ge0fwe-0\" data-newsletter-key=\"receiveInsideSportNews\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/InsideSport1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Inside Sport\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-1 inRDZn\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-3\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-4 hfveGa\">\n<p><h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-6 fvoxRM cLEJmn\">Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sport<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-8 fvoxRM iTZFOX\">Get our free Inside Sport newsletter<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-7 fvoxRM iGYpOF\">Get our free Inside Sport newsletter<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"sc-eaj12q-0 hKcUSR sc-culv3z-0 eifaJK sc-1ix0cah-0 PYnPb sc-y4bm30-10 fUEDPX\"><use href=\"#600f53465147d717\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk sc-y4bm30-9 iQYNfz\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/InsideSport1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Inside Sport\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/roberto-de-zerbi\">Roberto De Zerbi<\/a> refused to discuss Tottenham\u2019s late penalty claim in a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea and instead urged the relegation-threatened club to channel energy into Sunday\u2019s \u201cfinal\u201d with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/everton\">Everton<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Spurs remain 17th and only two points above the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/premier-league\">Premier League<\/a> bottom three after they squandered the chance to secure survival with a potentially costly loss at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/stamford-bridge\">Stamford Bridge<\/a> where Enzo Fernandes inspired derby delight.<\/p>\n<p>Fernandez smashed in a 30-yard opener in the 18th-minute before he teed up Andrey Santos with 67 on the clock, but Richarlison provided a lifeline for the visitors with 16 minutes left.<\/p>\n<p>A controversial finish occurred after Spurs captain Micky van de Ven was dragged to the floor by Marc Cucurella from a corner and even though the Chelsea full-back was issued a caution, referee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/stuart-attwell\">Stuart Attwell<\/a> ordered the set-piece to be retaken with the ball deemed not to be in play.<\/p>\n<p>It infuriated Tottenham players and despite plenty of late pressure, they failed to force an equaliser and face a final-day decider at home to Everton, which De Zerbi has called more important than last season\u2019s Europa League triumph over Manchester United.<\/p>\n<p>De Zerbi said: \u201cMy focus is to prepare the next game and to make points, because Sunday is the final for Tottenham. Not Bilbao against Man Utd.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe most important game is Sunday, because last season they played for the trophy. Now we play for something more important than the trophy, because the pride, the history of the club, the dignity are more important than the trophy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe trophy you can win, you can lose, nothing changes in your life. You can have one trophy more, but the most important is to keep the dignity, to keep the pride, to go on holiday like this [head up], and not like this [head down].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After Chelsea edged a tight first half which lacked quality, De Zerbi had a triple substitution prepared when Randal Kolo Muani passed behind Rodrigo Bentancur to leave the Spurs defence exposed and Pedro Neto crossed in for Fernandez to tee up Santos to score on the turn.<\/p>\n<p>Tottenham rallied when Richarlison fired in after a Pape Sarr back heel and after Maddison was denied by a superb last-ditch tackle from Jorrel Hato, the resulting corner was cut short when referee Attwell blew his whistle and cautioned Cucurella for hauling Van de Ven to the floor.<\/p>\n<p>However, Attwell did not point to the spot and instead called for the corner to be retaken.<\/p>\n<p>A post on X by Premier League Match Centre read: \u201cThe referee\u2019s call of no penalty to Tottenham Hotspur was checked and confirmed by VAR \u2013 with it deemed that the action from Cucurella had ended before the ball was in play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Images quickly emerged on social media which appeared to suggest the ball had been in play, but De Zerbi twice side-stepped the topic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not my business now,\u201d De Zerbi insisted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday we can speak about what you want, but we lose focus and we lose energy. My focus is to stay on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to stay alive but anyway, (Sunday) is a big day for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane praised his energy-sapped team after the quick turnaround to Saturday\u2019s FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood to get the win,\u201d McFarlane reflected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was obvious from minute one we didn\u2019t at times have the energy and intensity we needed. It was always going to be tough after the cup final.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was obviously Spurs would get more energy and we just needed to dig in for the result at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743-1024x683.jpg",640,427,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743.jpg",1200,800,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743-1115x715.jpg",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7991de050db48d90b3dfdac6a17bb0f6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5MzE2ODg1-2.84677743-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?cat=6\" rel=\"category\">Sports<\/a>","tag_info":"Sports","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}