5 Talking Points : Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspurs, 18th August, 2013

Penalty decision was influenced by earlier tackle?

Soldado takes the penalty

Spurs were awarded a penalty in the 49th minute when the frustrating Lennon tried to cross the ball into the box and a sliding challenge by Moxey led to the ball hitting his slightly raised left hand. Not many protests followed but pundits did say the decision could have gone either way and some referees may not have given the decision in Spurs’ favor.

Maybe referee Clattenburg’s decision could have been influenced by a challenge from Palace captain Jedinak on Paulinho. It was a clumsy tackle just inside the box but Clattenburg chose not to blow the whistle at that moment. It was not much of a respite for the defense as the referee did award the penalty against Moxey which Roberto Soldado converted to score a goal on debut and give Spurs all three points.