LONDON -- Roberto De Zerbi has said the referee was "not calm" in Tottenham's eventful 1-1 draw with Leeds on Monday and suggested the officials' decisions were influenced by the late VAR drama that saw Arsenal beat West Ham on Sunday.
In a weekend dominated by officiating drama at both ends of the Premier League table, two interventions from the video assistant referee forced Spurs to settle for a point in north London.
After Mathys Tel's attempted bicycle kick clearance made contact with Ethan Ampadu instead of the dropping ball inside the Spurs box, VAR Craig Pawson recommended referee Jarred Gillett review the incident on the pitch-side screen. After which, the Australian official duly awarded a spot kick.
Then, in the 13th of 14 minutes of second-half stoppage time, James was brought down in the box by Lukas Nmecha.
Gillett again opted against awarding a penalty on the field, but this time the VAR, Craig Pawson, opted against recommending a review after deciding that Nmecha got a touch on the ball.
The 1-1 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium leaves De Zerbi's team two points clear of West Ham in the relegation zone with two matches remaining.
"From the first minute until the end of the game, the referee went to me, 'if you go out [of the technical area then it'll be a yellow card.' I think they were not calm today. Maybe they suffered the pressure of yesterday. The Arsenal game, the VAR, " De Zerbi told a post-match news conference.
"For sure, we suffered the pressure today because the speed of the ball, the order on the pitch. We didn't play with passion with the ball. We were rushing. But also the referee was not calm today. I don't know. I can't understand the complaining about yesterday in VAR because [David Raya] was fouled 200%, not 100%, 200%, if you want to speak about football."
De Zerbi welcomed the return of Maddison to his team after the midfielder made his return to the pitch after more than a year out of competitive action with two serious knee injuries.
"Great news for us, De Zerbi said. "He is a different player as a quality, as a guy and he will be, I hope, crucial for us. Yesterday I spoke with him about his physical condition, about how many minutes he could play. He played more than what he said yesterday."
Leeds boss Daniel Farke was also delighted to see the midfielder's return to action. Farke briefly coached Maddison while the German was in charge of Norwich City in the mid to late 2010s.
"It's a dangerous question for me because I have a soft spot for James Maddison. He was my player when he was pretty young. And I also hope to have helped him a little bit to kickstart his career.
If you love football, then you love James Madison because he's a pure baller for me. One of the most creative and gifted and talented midfield players in England," Farke said.
"You feel if such a great footballer, an even better human being, is out for such a long time, I was just delighted to see him back right now in the last match day squads. And what he can do is shown in the last minutes, he can even, although he was out for such a long time, he can be there with a decisive pass or decisive cross or decisive set piece.
"He's also smart in and out of the box to win sometimes smart, a free kick or even perhaps to try to win a penalty."
Spurs face a trip to Chelsea in their penultimate match of the season on Tuesday May 19, two days after West Ham play Newcastle at St James' Park.
