Antonio Conte claims that Richarlison did not intend to offend Nottingham Forest with his showboating on Sunday during Tottenham’s victory.
In the last minutes of Spurs’ 2-0 victory, the Brazilian forward decided to perform some kick-ups on the sidelines. Brennan Johnson, who received a yellow card for his forceful challenge as things heated up at the City Ground, and Forest’s Neco Williams combined to quickly scythe him down.
Richarlison’s behavior did not impress forest manager Steve Cooper. After the game, he remarked, “I wouldn’t want my players to do that, what Richarlison did,” he said after the match.
“But if that’s accepted at Spurs then that’s nothing to do with me. But it wouldn’t be accepted here, that’s for sure.”
Richarlison undoubtedly had an impact after coming off the bench. Prior to his moment of controversy, the £60 million summer transfer from Everton set up Harry Kane’s second goal with an exquisite outside-of-the-boot cross.
Conte made an effort to minimize the incident’s importance, the manager said: “At that moment I was with the bench because I was making another substitution. I think he juggled with the ball.
“It is a game and you are under pressure. I repeat it is OK. I don’t think Richy wanted to show disrespect to Nottingham Forest.
“Nottingham Forest are a really good team with a great history in football and we have a great respect. Richy for sure thinks in the same way. Not disrespectful for anyone and I can tell you this.”
Tottenham now sits in third place in the Premier League after the victory, giving Conte’s team 10 points out of a possible 12 to start the season. Following a sloppy finish off a feed from Dejan Kulusevski, Kane scored the game’s first goal before Dean Henderson successfully saved his penalty attempt.
Kane stooped to head in Richarlison’s cross after missing the penalty that followed Steve Cook’s intentional handball, so the miss wasn’t particularly expensive. “I believe we earned the victory. The game was challenging,” Conte admitted.
“It was the first time (playing them) and I was really surprised to listen to a lot of noise around the stadium and the pitch, and the Nottingham Forest fans pushed the team a lot. The second half we improved a lot and we had the chances to score the second goal. We could have scored the third goal with the penalty, but honestly I don’t think he missed it.
“I think it was a really good save. The keeper was incredible, the save he made. But in the end, three points, I repeat not easy to come here and get three points against Nottingham Forest.”
What did Richarlison do?
Second, Richarlison followed up to his villainous reputation by deciding to start playing keepy-ups mid-game for no apparent reason. This is when the showboating really came out.
And although he continued to juggle away happy as Larry, he managed to get away with his act of cheekiness at first, but just a few seconds later, he earned the wrath of Neco Williams and Brennan Johnson.
That’s because Richarlison was swiftly cut down to the ground by the Forest duo, reminding him of how that kind of behavior is handled in the Premier League.
Antonio Conte and his players
With a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon, Tottenham Hotspur maintained their impressive start to the year.
Under Antonio Conte, Spurs are really doubling down on their reputation as Premier League underdogs as they successfully negotiated what might have been a challenging trip to the City Ground.
Harry Kane’s merciless goal-scoring ultimately made the difference, as his bobbling attempt in the first minute and close-range header in the closing seconds knocked off Forest.
