Monday 23 February 2015 14:13, UK
Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb has hit back at Sam Allardyce after the West Ham manager claimed Spurs should not have been awarded the penalty that led to their equaliser on Sunday.
Allardyce bemoaned the decision of referee Jonathan Moss after Alex Song brought down Harry Kane deep into stoppage time at White Hart Lane.
The former Bolton and Blackburn boss said Tottenham were “desperate” and suggested their players went down too easily throughout the game.
But Bentaleb said: “This is football. Sometimes the referee makes decisions and you just have to shut your mouth and not complain.
“Of course it was a penalty - there's no doubt about that. Maybe it’s because we scored from the penalty in the last minute; I can understand if he’s a little bit angry about this.
“He can say whatever he wants but if he wants to argue maybe we could say Mark Noble should have been sent off.
“The positive thing we can take out of this game is that we believed until the end and once again we scored in the last minute and managed to get that point.”
The 2-2 draw kept Spurs within touching distance of the top four – with third to seventh separated by just four points - while West Ham remain five points below their rivals in eighth.
