FRANK LAMPARD SLAMMED VAR as “not good enough” after Giovani Lo Celso avoided a red card for an awful challenge on Cesar Azpilicueta in Chelsea’s win over Tottenham — a decision which Stockley Park officials admitted mid-game, half an hour later, that they had gotten wrong.

The Blues ran out 2-1 winners at Stamford Bridge, with goals from Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso before Antonio Rudiger put through his own net as Spurs threatened a scarcely deserved fightback.

But prior to Tottenham’s goal, the visitors should have been reduced to 10 men as Lo Celso — intentionally or otherwise — planted his studs into Azpilicueta’s shin.

VAR assessed the incident and decided against any card, although match broadcasters BT Sport reported that the official concerned later backtracked on this opinion.

The word from Stockley Park was that it was not a VAR error, but ‘human error’, but the U-turn did little to improve the mood of head coach Lampard, who was furious with the challenge.

“It’s not good enough. It’s not good enough, I’m sorry,” he told BT “It’s two VARs now in two games [after two goals were disallowed in the defeat to Manchester United].

“It’s harder to speak about it when you’ve lost because people are claiming you’re just shouting, but maybe you need to shout, because that’s not good enough.

“Everybody in the football world saw that that was a red. And it’s too late, too late to do that [for VAR officials to admit their error]. The game should be over [at 2-0].

“I hate to call for red cards, but when they’re endangering… That’s a leg-breaker of a tackle.

You get VAR brought into the game to see it and give the right decision. I’m not saying anything about the referees on the spot – it’s not easy on the spot. VAR’s here to clear those up. I’m not surprised they’ve put it right, but it’s not good enough.

Lampard was rather more positive about Chelsea’s application, suggesting they had set standards to take forward in terms of their intensity.

“The aggression in our game, the pressing off the ball, the work-rate [was aggressive],” he said. “We’ve been having a tough time at home for different reasons.

“And when you’re having tough times, there’s only one option, and that’s to fight. Sometimes, fighting [when it is] difficult, hanging on in the last few minutes when you shouldn’t have been, those are the moments.

“We have to bottle that up now, that feeling, understanding that needs to be our behaviour daily. The way we played today needs to be our daily behaviour in training and the games coming up.”

- Omni