Saturday, 1st March, 2014
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has defended his response to being head-butted by Dnipro forward Roman Zozulya on Thursday evening.
Zozulya moved his head towards Vertonghen, causing the Belgian to crumple to the floor, holding his head in agony. The Spurs defender was roundly criticised for his reaction, being accused in some quarters of simulation, with Zozulya being shown a red card.
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Now though Vertonghen has come out to defend himself, telling Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad: "Zozulya gave me a reason to go down.
"I think he's in the wrong, not me.
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"There was also pushing and pulling with the striker in the first leg. Until that particular phase it was fair.
"Sometimes they were hard duels, but they were there. Afterwards he went too far.
"First he pushed, but I did not respond.
"The second time he gave me a head-butt. I was surprised, frankly, it was a fair red card."
Spurs went on to win the second leg Europa League clash 3-1 at White Hart Lane, recovering from a 1-0 first leg defeat to set up a last 16 clash against Benfica.
Roman Zozulya Red Card vs Tottenham
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