An angered Jan Paul van Hecke hit out at Getafe’s dirty tactics after Tottenham‘s clash with the Spanish side descended into a bruising affair.
Getafe are renowned for their rough-house approach and showed little sign of abating during the 70-minute encounter, which was played behind closed doors at Tottenham’s training ground and proved anything but a routine pre-season friendly.
In one instance, Sandro Tonali, who joined Tottenham for £100million this summer from Newcastle, was left incensed by a challenge from Mario Martin. After Tonali had beaten Martin to the ball and shoved him to the turf, the Spaniard retaliated by leaving a leg in when Tonali attempted to play the ball forward.
Tonali was left furious, chasing after his opponent and grabbing his shoulder to turn him around before pushing him multiple times, including once to the neck.
Several Getafe players rushed towards Tonali and the approaching referee, while Andy Robertson stepped in to shove Kiko Femenia away as he attempted to complain to the official.
Centre-back Van Hecke, who joined Spurs from Brighton in a £52m deal this summer, said: ‘Sometimes it’s good to have a physical game. I thought today was a bit too much. From their side, sometimes it’s not necessary, especially in a friendly.
‘I think in a normal game maybe they have two or three red cards. But that’s also maybe the way they play. We knew beforehand they can do it.
‘It’s a friendly, so you think maybe they would do it a bit less. But on the other hand, we also need to be at our best because if you don’t put your foot in, they’re going to win it.
Tonali was left incensed by a challenge from Getafe’s Mario Martin, rushing up behind him and shoving him several times, including once to the neck
Several Getafe players rushed towards Tonali and the approaching referee after the incident
‘If that’s what the game asks, then you need to put your foot in and battle with them, otherwise they win the battles. That’s what you don’t want. It’s one of the first things you need to win in football.
‘You saw at times it got a bit heated, but that’s because of the reactions. If you get kicked, you’re going to react.’
As for the match itself, the goals were reserved for the final few minutes worth of action.
Getafe took the lead in the 66th minute when Alberto Risco volleyed past Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.
Spurs then responded moments later with Conor Gallagher’s neat finish following a good run drawing the game in the final minute.
The home side came close to clinching the match late on, with Richarlison’s header saved by Getafe goalkeeper David Soria.
Both sides had chances in a goalless first half with Lucas Bergvall’s shot the best of the efforts for Spurs, while Andy Gray did well to block Ebrahima Drammeh’s drive.
De Zerbi made no changes through the 70 minutes played with barely a break at half time, with lots of senior players involved in another training game played at the training ground on Saturday. Six young subs were named plus goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. None were used.
Among those not involved against Getafe who are firmly back in the swing of preseason were Martin Dubravka, Kevin Danso, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, Mateus Fernandes, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke.
Tottenham conclude their pre-season fixtures with a double header against Bundesliga side Hoffenheim next Saturday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (3pm UK) and a Sunday match at the training ground (12pm).
They begin their Premier League campaign against Brentford on 22 August.
