Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said that VAR was “not good enough” during his sides’ 2-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur.

The blues put in a brilliant performance at Stamford Bridge and brushed their London rivals aside thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso.

But the match was marred by controversy in the second half after Tottenham midfielder Giovanni Lo Celso wasn’t punished for a horrific tackle on Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta in the 52nd minute.

VAR Controversy

Lo Celso appeared to stamp on Azipilicueta’s ankle after a tackle on the touch line.

The incident was referred to VAR but referee Michael Oliver saw no reason to overturn the original ruling, a decision that PGMOL, the organisation responsible for match officials in England, admitted was the wrong decision.

In his post match interview, Lampard criticised the decision making process, saying: “Everybody knew they had made a mistake. We obviously have the monitor [in the dugout] and can view it so I was just waiting for the red card to be shown - not with real pleasure but it’s just a tackle that endangers a player.

“That’s what VAR was brought in for, to see things that the referee on the pitch doesn’t see and it’s just not good enough. It’s no good saying afterwards that they’ve made a mistake because they have a couple of minutes to get it right. They probably needed one viewing of that one to get it right so it’s a another huge question mark over VAR.

“I want it to be good, I want it work. It’s a high-speed game and referees have the toughest job around so VAR was brought in to help them and make the game better but it was so wrong today.”

Despite the decision, the blues opened the gap to their top four rivals to four points, leaving them in a strong position with just 11 games left.

Lampard impressed by Giroud

Olivier Giroud was crucial to the win, scoring the first goal after just 15 minutes.

The striker was starting his first game since November and Lampard  was very impressed by the 33-year-old’s performance.

The Chelsea boss said: “Oli has got his fitness and you could see 70 minutes was tough for him but what you do get with Oli is quality. You know his attributes.

"In a game where I expected Tottenham to be deep - which they were in the first half - you know you can find him and he can bring people into the game.”

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