Maddison penalty, red card controversy, Romero hand ball - Frankfurt vs Tottenham referee review

Despite only one goal being scored in Tottenham's Europa League quarter-final second leg away to Eintracht Frankfurt, there were several controversial incidents in the clash with the final 10 minutes of the first half particularly busy for referee Davide Massa.

Following on from a first leg that Spurs dominated, the German side were arguably favourites to qualify after holding them to a 1-1 draw. A Dominic Solanke penalty however, awarded after VAR intervention, put the visitors in front on the night and on aggregate.

A huge save from Guglielmo Vicario alongside blocks from Lucas Bergvall, Cristian Romero and others helped the Lilywhites stop Frankfurt from scoring at the Deutsche Bank Park for the first time in over a year, but it could have been a much easier evening had a few big decisions gone their way.

Here, football.london goes over the key moments.

Maddison penalty

Just as Tottenham were looking for a spark, Maddison came up with one by showing an impressive amount of bravery.

It was quite clear, regardless of who got to the ball first, Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos was going to clean him out in an attempt to reach Cristian Romero's exquisite pass over the top. Ultimately, Maddison headed the ball up into the air and as such he was blatantly fouled by Kaua.

Amazingly, the referee did not give a penalty but as the Tottenham star was receiving treatment, VAR took a closer look and recommended a review with Massa going over to the screen and awarding a spot-kick along with a yellow card for Frankfurt's Brazilian shot-stopper.

football.london says: While the use of VAR helped the right decision be made, even needing the technology was baffling. It was quite clear, with the ball going up into the air, that Santos did not touch it and instead committed a clumsy foul on Maddison.

Whenever a 'keeper comes out flying from their goal as he did, a penalty or free-kick, if the incident occurs outside of the box, is very likely.

Thankfully, the correct outcome was found but the initial decision set up a bit of a worrying precedent with the Italian official having already awarded some 50/50 calls in favour of the hosts.

Kaua Santos red card

Given the fact Maddison had to be substituted after being piled into by Kaua, there is a real argument a red card could have been brandished.

The denial of a goal-scoring opportunity or the challenge being reckless and dangerous could have been argued as grounds for a dismissal.

football.london says: Had he been sent off, I don't think there could have been too many arguments but with the ref handing out just a yellow, there was no clear and obvious error made.

Had one of his hands collided with Maddison's face, it could have easily been considered dangerous play but they were both high in the air.

It also appears as though he has made a genuine attempt to play the ball and as such, him being sent off for stopping either a clear chance at goal or not even trying to win the dual, would have been the wrong call.

Johnson scuffle

A red card was awarded just a few minutes later however, when a foul by Brennan Johnson after the whistle had been blown resulted in a scuffle near the two dugouts.

The Welshman was shown a yellow for his role in starting the altercation and initially it looked as though Ange Postecoglou had been sent off but it was instead a Frankfurt staff member asked to depart his side's bench.

footballl.london says: In all honestly, all of this could have been avoided with Johnson's challenge firm but fair and only seconds after the referee had brought the game to a halt.

Replays also failed to show the exact reason why a coach was dismissed with it just seeming as though Massa was a bit card happy. Had he entered the field of play, that is probably grounds for a red but even then, it seems incredibly harsh.

Solanke foul

In the second half, Kaua was at it again as he piled into the back of Solanke following another ball beyond the Frankfurt back four.

This time, he got to the ball first but again it was a rather clumsy challenge and was not worth the risk of conceding another penalty.

football.london says: As he did reach the pass first, it would have been a bit harsh to give another penalty but he certainly ran the risk and it looked as though this time, he came off worse.

There were minimal appeals from Spurs players with Kaua the one to end up on the floor in pain. What was even more baffling however, was the referee only deciding to stop the game when Spurs won possession back with Frankfurt opting to keep attacking while he was down.

While the goal was open, if he wanted to stop the game it should have happened immediately as opposed to when Spurs could have scored.

Romero incidents

Cristian Romero was absolutely excellent in Germany but he was still at the centre of some controversies. There were huge appeals for a penalty midway through the second half for either a foul or handball.

The Argentine did kick Hugo Ekitike but the contact was minimal and the shouts for handball immediately after were misplaced with the ball quite clearly striking his shoulder.

In the final knockings, Romero was shown a yellow card for flying into a challenge with that absolutely the correct decision.

football.london says: The referee absolutely got the first two calls correct with Frankfurt desperately looking for a route back into the game.

And yes it was also definitely a booking for Romero but what followed was again so confusing. As Frankfurt remained in possession, the game continued and they certainly received an advantage before ultimately losing the ball.

Despite the fact 15 seconds had passed, the game was brought back to that incident with Romero cautioned and Frankfurt given a free-kick in a great opportunity even though they had squandered the chance.

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