Lo Celso was a lucky man to escape a red card in the London Derby on Saturday after he clearly stamped on Azpilceuta’s foot – a challenge which left the Chelsea captain in some visible discomfort.
The on-field referee failed to notice the challenge and hence it went to VAR and to almost everyone’s surprise the player escaped a red card – not even a yellow.
And if this was not enough to raise the critical voices, the video assistant referee, David Coote admitted after the match that he made a mistake by not sending off the Spurs man.
So naturally, Jose Mourinho was asked about this after the match to which the Spurs boss chose to add more pressure on the VAR.
Jose Mourinho said: “I hope the noise is the same noise when the VAR kills us, I hope it’s the same, against Liverpool when [Andy] Robertson should get the red, against Watford when [Etienne] Capoue should get the red card twice, with the same gentleman here, I hope it’s the same noise.
“Why didn’t they say they made a mistake against Liverpool or Watford? That’s what I mean.”
Frank Lampard though was convinced that it was a red card and it was so easy a decision that the referee did not even need to go the monitor.
“Not good enough,” said Lampard. “I’m sorry, but it’s not good enough. It’s twice in two games.
“Anybody in the world in football saw that it was a red. It’s a leg breaker without a doubt. This one doesn’t need a monitor, it is a clear decision. I was waiting for the red card to be shown. It is not good enough. Saying afterwards that you made a mistake is not good enough, they had minutes to get it right.”
Thankfully for the VAR, the result went in Chelsea’s favour as Jose Mourinho suffered yet another defeat at the hands of his apprentice, this time losing with a scoreline of 2-1.
Next up, Spurs welcome Wolves at home on the 1st of March and Jose Mourinho could very well be staring at yet another defeat in this game.
