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Gomes suffers horror ankle injury, ‘devastated’ Son sees red as Everton
deny Tottenham
LIVERPOOL, Nov 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Cenk Tosun’s header eight minutes into
stoppage time salvaged a 1-1 draw for Everton against Tottenham in a match
overshadowed by a broken ankle suffered by Everton midfielder Andre Gomes.
Spurs’ Son Heung-min was shown a straight red card for his foul on the
Portuguese international, but the injury occurred as Gomes’s momentum saw him
crash into Serge Aurier.
“It is a bad moment for us as a group and as a team. It’s more than a
football game, this is the most important thing right now,” said Everton
manager Marco Silva.
Tottenham led 1-0 at that stage thanks to Dele Alli’s strike just after the
hour mark.
The injury to Gomes proved a turning point with Son visibly upset even
before he was shown a red card.
“He (Son) is devastated and in tears,” said Alli. “It’s not his fault. Son
is one of nicest people you’ve ever met. He can’t even lift his head up, he’s
crying so much.”
Later Sunday, Everton confirmed the 26-year-old former Barcelona star Gomes
had broken his right ankle and will undergo surgery on Monday.
“Everton Football Club can confirm Andre Gomes will undergo surgery after
sustaining an ankle injury in today’s game with Tottenham Hotspur,” the
Merseysiders said in a statement.
“After undergoing hospital tests, it was confirmed he had suffered a
fracture dislocation to his right ankle. The club will provide further
updates in due course.”
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said his club had the utmost sympathy
for Gomes.
“We feel very sorry,” he said. “Was a really bad situation, very bad luck
how he landed in the action.
“We can only send our best wishes and (we are) devastated for the
situation.”
However, Pochettino believed the red card shown to Son was harsh,
particularly as referee Martin Atkinson had first produced a yellow card
prior to seeing Gomes’s injury.
“I cannot agree with the red card of Sonny,” added Pochettino.
“VAR must help the referee, I don’t know what is going on and what happens
with this tool. Rather than help the referee it is creating more confusion.”
Both managers were left frustrated at the use of VAR as both sides saw a
strong penalty claim turned down in the second half despite a lengthy delay
to review the incidents.
— Poor starts –
First Tottenham were denied as Son was upended by Yerry Mina with the score
at 0-0 and then, after Alli opened the scoring, the England midfielder
escaped unpunished from a handball inside his own box.
“I think the referee needs to go to the screen and check like in other
leagues. It’s the referee that needs to take the decision not the VAR from I
don’t know where,” said Pochettino.
A point does little to improve a poor start to the season for either side
with Everton still hovering just one place above the relegation zone, while
Spurs remain in the bottom half in 11th with 13 points from their first 11
games.
Tottenham hit the Toffees for six on their last visit to Goodison Park last
December, but their fall off in form over the past year was in evidence in a
dismal first 45 minutes in which neither side threatened to open the scoring.
Spurs badly missed the absent Harry Kane through illness, but were gifted
the opener when Alex Iwobi handed possession to Son and the South Korean fed
Alli to fire past England international teammate Jordan Pickford.
Son’s joy soon turned to anguish when he slid on Gomes 12 minutes from time
as he had to be consoled by players from both sides when he saw the extent of
Gomes’s injury.
Everton still struggled to make their man advantage count in what proved to
be the final 24 minutes with 12 minutes added due to the VAR reviews and
medical attention for Gomes.
But Tosun was in the right place to power home an equaliser and deny
Tottenham a first away win in the Premier League since January.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0912 hrs