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Football London
Football London
Sport
Lee Wilmot

The one big issue with the Harry Kane penalty claim vs Arsenal that everyone has missed

There was plenty of talk after the final whistle on Sunday about the Harry Kane penalty appeal.

Kane had already converted one penalty in the match, handing Spurs a 2-0 lead at the Emirates after Christian Eriksen's opener, and went down in search of another spot-kick in the 92nd minute.

The Tottenham striker got his body in front of the ball as he drove into the box, with Arsenal defender Sokratis nudging him in the back and sending him sprawling.

And pundits and fans have all had their say on the decision, which went against Spurs, with Martin Atkinson instead pointing for a free-kick the other way as Kane held onto the ball in the area.

From being labelled a 'diving cheat' to others saying 'it's a penalty', it was another one of those decisions that is never clear-cut and is never going to be overturned by VAR one way or the other as being a "clear and obvious mistake".

BeIn Sports pundit Andy Gray, formerly of Sky Sports, said afterwards: "We have spoken about Mo Salah. Mo Salah in the last year must have had three or four penalties that were much, much softer than that.

"He knows Sokratis is coming so you step across the line and say 'do you want to make a tackle?'. Most top defenders won't get involved and think no, he's running out play.

"It's a pen."

Jose Mourinho was in the Sky Sports studio for the game and he said: "‘I’ve seen penalties for less but I don’t think so. Without the VAR I would say no for sure. With the VAR now, everybody is at risk."

Former Spurs man Jermaine Jenas was on Match of the Day 2 and said: "I think he’s waiting for the contact to come to him and thrown his body into Sokratis there.

"He did something similar to Jamaal Lascelles and it’s not working so he needs to be careful."

Harry Kane scores his penalty against Arsenal (IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images)

But everyone has missed the point entirely.

We should not be talking about whether he did or did not dive, we should be talking about the clear-cut chance that Spurs had to win the game in that very moment.

Kane took the ball from substitute Dele Alli and had a one-on-one situation with Sokratis going into the left-hand side of the box.

But Kane is so much more than a goalscorer, he is so adept at spotting runs and picking a pass. And if he had just looked up on this occasion, rather than looking for an injury-time spot-kick, he could have helped win the game for Spurs for sure.

For while Kane was driving at Sokratis in the box, substitute Giovani Lo Celso was also making a run into the heart of the box. The Argentinian got on the wrong side of David Luiz, who only clocked the 23-year-old's run at the last minute, by which time Lo Celso was in the clear.

If Kane had looked up and seen him, a simple abll across the six-yard box would have given Lo Celso a tap-in and a 3-2 win for Spurs.

Ifs, buts and maybes.

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