Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg believes that referee Anthony Taylor's decision to dish out red cards to both Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel after the final whistle of the 2-2 draw between Tottenham and Chelsea was unnecessary.
The two head coaches were both shown straight reds after the final whistle of the fiery derby at Stamford Bridge. Conte attempted to shake hands quickly after the game but Tuchel gripped the Spurs head coach's hand tightly, refusing to let him go and in doing so yanked him back towards him with the motion.
Both men went face to face with the German's cap pressing against his counterpart's head as he pointed two fingers towards his own eyes, telling the Italian to look at him if they are to shake hands. That sparked chaos around them as both benches and players piled in, albeit with no physical exchanges other than various players being held back.
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Hojbjerg, who scored Spurs' first goal of the afternoon, said he did not see the initial incident but found the response from the referee a bit too much.
"I didn't see that," said the Dane before adding about Conte's infectious passion on the touchline, "it's his personality and something as a player you know he brings. It's important. I think in this case the officials could have said, 'OK, no need for cards in this game' after the finish and just leave it a bit, you know?
"I think it was a bit...it's difficult to comment on decisions but I didn't think it was necessary for the officials to be giving red cards after the game, but I didn't see what happened so I cannot comment on this issue."
Hojbjerg has high standards and despite the celebrations after Harry Kane's last-gasp 96th minute equaliser rescued a point for the visitors, he was not impressed with the team's overall performance and felt the Spurs players were too emotional at points.
"The past is the past," he said when asked whether Tottenham would have been able to come back like that a year ago. "What's important is the facts and the present. I don't like to celebrate a draw but today the team showed good character, good resilience and it was also nice that we gave the fans something to celebrate.
"But there were moments in the match when I think we were too far from controlling the game. Sometimes even without the ball you can be in control, and I thought after the 1-1 especially we were a bit too emotional and lost control of the game. This was not, from my point of view, so good from the team, but again, the way we came back and believed was important because we don't win, okay, but Chelsea don't win. This is a step forward definitely but it's difficult for me to celebrate a draw."
The main difference between Spurs' dismal showings against Chelsea last season, when they lost four games, was the quality now available to Conte on the north London side's bench with Richarlison, Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma all making a difference when they came on during Sunday's game while Lucas Moura also came into the match late on as a wing-back.
For Hojbjerg, who saluted the Spurs fans after his goal, the increase in competition takes him back to his formative years at Bayern Munich in Germany.
"I think if you want to be a top, top team, you have to have two players that can contribute in every position," he explained. "That's what I learned when I grew up in Munich in my early years in professional football. They had minimum two players in every position and it makes everyone stay on their toes.
"It's important to keep a good mentality and know that it's going up and down through the season but everyone must always try to give their best to the team. It's up to the manager to pick the players for each game in terms of details, the physical aspect, the emotional and technical aspect, you know? And yeah, I think we're in a good way but, sorry without being too pessimistic, it's difficult for me to celebrate a draw because, you know... but if you don't win, they don't win.
"This is something we take with us and the way we came back I thought was fantastic, and then to give the fans something to celebrate is sweet for the heart."
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