Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has hit back at comments from Jose Mourinho over Son Heung-min's red card during Chelsea's 2-0 victory.
The Spurs forward kicked out at Blues' defender Antonio Rudiger in the second half of the match, with the German falling to the floor holding his abdomen.
After review, VAR advised referee Anthony Taylor to show Son a straight red card for violent conduct, meaning that he has also been handed a further three-game ban.
Following the game, Tottenham head coach Mourinho made his feelings clear on the red card, aiming a dig in Rudiger's direction.
"I hope Rudiger recovers quickly from the broken ribs, because for sure he will have a few broken ribs," he told Sky Sports.
The Spurs boss also reaffirmed his thoughts on the incident during his pre-match press conference.
"In the Premier League I love that there is no space also for what Rudiger did. Stand up and play man. This is the Premier League," he said.
However, speaking in his pre-match press conference, Lampard has jumped to the defence of his player, and aimed his own dig at Tottenham.
“I think with Toni and this incident, when he is having to post after the game about something that we know is a huge deal. I think to question his integrity in that time is disappointing," he said.
"For sure. I think pretty universally, certainly what I heard on the commentary and post match reflection is that the Son incident was a red card. Now I said it after the game, it wasn’t a brutal red card, but it was an instinctive one that warrants a red card in the modern day. VAR took a couple of minutes, so there was no excuse for the referee not seeing it real, or whatever, the VAR saw it perfectly. So it’s pretty clear that was the case.
"I wouldn’t question Toni’s integrity on that. If it becomes a question of people standing up or falling down in the Premier League, I think there were a couple of incidents in the last 15 minutes of the game where Tottenham players were going over in the box attempting to win a penalty. So we can open up that debate, not just the red card but on mini incidents across many games. I do defend Toni firmly on it.”
It has been reported that following the incident Rudiger received racist abuse from the crowd, an allegation which both teams are investigating.
