Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom let rip into Premier League officiating after he watched his group concede twice in stoppage time to lose 2-1 at Tottenham.
The Blades have been heading in the right direction for a maiden win since their return to the Premier League after Gustavo Hamer fired them in entrance after 73 minutes within the capital.
A minimal of 12 minutes have been added on on the finish of the 90 and Spurs punished the newly-promoted aspect, with Richarlison levelling within the eighth added minute earlier than Dejan Kulusevski grabbed a dramatic winner two minutes later.
There was nonetheless time for Oli McBurnie to obtain his marching orders for a second yellow card and the United supervisor bemoaned the show of referee Peter Bankes following their newest last-gasp defeat.
“Something needs to be done now and this is not me moaning. I said it (at) half-time and when we were 1-0 up as well. The focus is on time-wasting, so the referees are dictating how we play,” Heckingbottom insisted.
“We set up from the back, then Spurs push forward and then that dictates how we play, but no, we’re just told to play long. You can’t do it.
“Wes (Foderingham) got a yellow card for handling outside the box and then got threatened with a sending-off (for time-wasting) you can’t do it.
“The officiating is appalling and it’s not about the football decisions. It’s just game management.
“My worry is all the focus is on yellow cards for time-wasting and when I talked to the referees, they haven’t got a clue what I’m talking about. They’re officiating the game, they simply do not know the game.
“We need to sort that and sort that quick. It’s ruining the spectacle and then to sum it all up we get Oli McBurnie sent off for telling the referee someone is pulling his shirt.
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“We’ve just seen someone lead with an elbow into our goalkeeper who needs stitches and that’s the same offence. What’s going on? Seriously what’s going on with our game?”
It was a distinct story for Tottenham after a euphoric victory impressed by substitute Richarlison following a tough week.
Richarlison had been pictured in tears after being substituted in Brazil’s 5-1 win over Bolivia and revealed in midweek that he would search “psychological help” following a turbulent time in his private life.
After scoring solely as soon as within the Premier League final season following his £60million change from Everton final summer season, Richarlison grabbed the leveller with a header from Ivan Perisic’s nook to arrange a grandstand end in N17.
Two minutes later and a slick group transfer ended with Richarlison teeing up Kulusevski, who fired via Jack Robinson’s legs to spark wild celebrations earlier than Spurs captain Son Heung-min urged the Brazilian to absorb the applause at full-time.
“Richy was great,” Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou stated.
“I thought all the subs who came on really helped, but that’s been a consistent theme.
“Yeah for Richy, I think it’s the point I was trying to make yesterday. For him to understand that you try and maintain a balance in life and his football hasn’t been that bad. He’s still been contributing for us.
“Sometimes when you struggle with certain parts of your life, you let it go into other areas, but the football is one area where he can control and he works hard every day in training and really got his rewards today.
“And hopefully that gives him a bit more of a settled feel to deal with the other areas in his life. For everyone, it’s about not letting it overwhelm you and hopefully a day like today helps him.”
