Saturday 17 January 2015 21:53, UK
Tottenham defender Danny Rose says Saturday's 2-1 win over Sunderland was a vital result for the club after last weekend's loss at Crystal Palace.
However, Rose was left scratching his head after Tottenham had a third goal ruled out for offside in the closing stages of the match.
The hosts secured three vitals points thanks to another late goal from Christian Eriksen, who was on target with only two minutes left.
And there was further drama to come when Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon was caught upfield after a corner for the visitors and Jan Vertonghen shot into the empty net from 45 yards out, only to be ruled offside.
Rose said: “When the game was going on, I couldn’t quite see where Jan was when the ball had been played.
“But we’ve just looked now in the changing rooms and, I’m not being funny, but it was a shocking decision.
“I thought Jan was offside given how quickly the linesman has put his flag up but, as I said, we’ve seen it in the changing room and Jan was four yards in his own half.
“I just can’t understand how the linesman can give an offside decision like that.”
Fortunately for Spurs, the final whistle was blown moments later and Rose added: “If it wasn’t for Christian and his late goals we’d probably be a bit further down the league than we are now.
“It was a great response to come back and win the game today because we were bitterly disappointed last week away to Crystal Palace.
“Now we look forward to a semi-final game on Wednesday (against Sheffield United in the Capital One Cup).”
Former Spurs man Jermain Defoe is back in English football with Sunderland and made his debut for the Black Cats at White Hart Lane.
“The Premier League has missed him,” said Rose.
“You can see he keeps himself in tremendous shape and he’ll be fantastic for Sunderland because, as I’ve said before, Jermain can score goals in any team, it doesn’t matter how old he is.”
