Simons mocks referee's decision after Bogle's brutal challenge on Matheus Teixeira, De Zerbi fears serious injury

Xavi Simons, Tottenham player, expressed his frustration at the non-red card for Jaiden Bogle, Leeds United defender, after his violent tackle on teammate Matthias Tell during the match between the two teams, which ended in a 1-0 victory for Leeds on Saturday in the Premier League.

The match saw a strong challenge from Bogle on Tille in the early minutes, after he stepped on the back of the ankle of Tottenham's striker, who required medical intervention before leaving the pitch as a substitute. The Video Assistant Referee took about five minutes to review the incident, but upheld referee Jon Brooks' decision not to issue a red card.

The decision has sparked anger among Tottenham players and fans, and Simons compared Bogle's intervention to the incident in which he was sent off against Liverpool last December, after committing a similar foul against Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. At that time, he received a yellow card initially before the referee reviewed the footage via video technology and changed it to a red card, causing the Dutch player to miss three matches.

Xavi Simons shared two images of the incidents on his Snapchat account, accompanied by a brief comment: "The difference?" This was in reference to the disparity in refereeing decisions despite the similarities between the two situations.

Roberto De Zerbi, Tottenham's manager, expressed concern over Tille's condition, describing his injury as 'bad'. He added: 'We now need to conduct medical examinations, and by the next day we will know the nature of the problem.'

Micky van de Ven, Tottenham's captain, criticized the decision not to send off Boge, stating that he realized the seriousness of the challenge as soon as he saw it from the sidelines. He added that he approached the referee and told him that the challenge was strong, considering that the length of the VAR review warranted calling the referee to watch the incident himself.

In contrast, VAR official Tony Randriamanampisoa confirmed the referee's decision not to issue a red card, explaining that the challenge lacked sufficient speed and that the player approached the ball during the collision before the foul was classified as reckless.