Arsene Wenger has called on officials to ‘take on board’ their mistake after Giovani Lo Celso’s horror challenge on Cesar Azpilicueta somehow went unpunished during Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Tottenham.
Antonio Rudiger’s own goal gave Chelsea a brief scare in the dying moments of the Premier League clash but a pair of clinical strikes from Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso either side of half-time were enough to secure all three points for the hosts.
The other major talking point of the game was Lo Celso’s reckless tackle on Chelsea captain Azpilicueta shortly after the break which was initially cleared by the video assistant referee.
However, the officials examining the challenge at Stockley Park later admitted that an error had been made and Chelsea head coach Lampard understandably had little sympathy.
‘It’s not good enough. I’m sorry, it’s always harder to speak about it when you’ve lost because people claim you’re just shouting but maybe you need to shout because that’s not good enough,’ he told told BT Sport shortly after the final whistle.
‘Everybody in the world, in football saw that it was a red and it’s too late, it’s too late to do that, the game should be over.
‘I hate to call for red cards but when they’re endangering…that’s a leg-breaker of a tackle, without a doubt.
‘VAR has been brought into the game to see it again and give the right decision or change a decision.
‘I’m not saying anything about referees on the spot, it’s not easy on the spot, VAR is here to clear those up. ‘I’m not surprised that they’ve put it back, but it’s not good enough.’
“It was a straight red card [Lo Celso]. I don’t even see why they needed 3 minutes to make the decision.”#beINPL #CHETOT pic.twitter.com/DsXe2DHDyy
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) February 22, 2020
Speaking on beIN SPORTS after the game, ex-Arsenal boss Werner urged officials to learn the mistakes that were made at Stamford Bridge.
‘I agree completely, it was a straight red card,’ he said.
‘I don’t even see why they needed three minutes to make the decision.
‘First time you see it, it’s a red card. It’s a mistake that we have to take on board.’
Asked about the incident, Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho said: ‘I feel sorry that they don’t admit more times [that they are wrong] especially when things go against us
‘But I don’t wanna speak about it.’
MORE: Cesar Azpilicueta reacts to VAR not sending off Giovani Lo Celso
