Tottenham Hotspur’s survival fight will go to the final day after they missed out on the chance to seal survival against Chelsea.
With West Ham two points behind and with just one game left, victory at Stamford Bridge would have made certain of a Premier League place next season for Spurs – and a draw would almost certainly have sufficed, too, given their vastly superior goal difference.
But having been beaten 2-1 by their London rivals, Roberto De Zerbi’s side face an anxious final day encounter with Everton with West Ham taking on Leeds simultaneously.
The situation might have been different, though, had a late penalty appeal been given by referee Stuart Attwell.
With a corner about to be taken, Attwell blew his whistle and brandished a yellow card in the direction of Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella, who appeared to wrestle Micky van de Ven to the floor.
The incident occurred in the 85th minute after Richarlison had halved the deficit for the visitors, and several Spurs players seemed to wonder why Attwell did not point to the penalty spot having deemed the incident worthy of a caution.
#CHETOT – 85’
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) May 19, 2026
The referee’s call of no penalty to Tottenham Hotspur was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that the action from Cucurella had ended before the ball was in play.
However, IFAB Law 12, which covers fouls and misconduct, clearly states that direct and indirect free-kicks, and penalty kickss, can only be awarded for offences committed in “when the ball is in play”. As the corner had not yet been delivered, as was determined by video assistant referee John Brooks, that was not the case in these circumstances.
