LEICESTER, England (AP) - Tottenham conceded two goals after having one of its own ruled out by VAR for the most marginal of offside calls to lose 2-1 at Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday.
Spurs were already leading through a first-half strike by Harry Kane when Serge Aurier drove a deflected shot into the bottom corner, seemingly giving the visitors a 2-0 cushion at King Power stadium.
However, after a lengthy stoppage as the video assistant referee took a forensic look at whether Son Heung-min was offside by millimeters in the buildup, the goal was ruled out.
In Leicester’s next attack, Jamie Vardy cut the ball back for right back Ricardo Pereira to side foot home a deflected finish to make it 1-1 in the 69th minute.
James Maddison completed Leicester’s comeback by scoring from outside the area in the 85th.
“It’s what happens with VAR - you have to get your head round it,” Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said. “It works for you and against you.”
Leicester, widely tipped as a potential outsider to break into the top four this season, moved to 11 points from six games and is already in the Champions League positions.
Tottenham is now winless in its last nine away games in the league, the team’s poor form on its travels carrying over from last season.
Kane’s fourth league goal of the season had given Spurs hope of ending their travel sickness, and it was the finish of a natural scorer.
Running onto a deft backheel from Son in the 29th minute, Kane tumbled to the ground inside the area after getting a shove from Leicester defender Caglar Soyuncu. Still, the England captain had the athleticism and skill to wrap his foot around the ball and direct a bobbled finish past goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
With Hugo Lloris missing for Tottenham following the birth of his child, Paolo Gazzaniga filled in for the France goalkeeper and spilled a long-range shot by Youri Tielemans, allowing Wilfred Ndidi to bundle the ball into the net to seemingly give Leicester a 16th-minute lead.
That goal was also ruled out by VAR, which spotted that Ayoze Perez - the first player to latch onto the spill from Gazzaniga - was narrowly offside when Tielemans took aim.
Leicester’s luck with VAR equaled out later, though, and Maddison’s 25-meter strike lifted his team above Tottenham in the early standings.
“If we score the second, the game is over,” Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said. “It gives belief to a team that could have been dead. But the Premier League, it is the most beautiful league because it is never over.”
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