Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho confirmed on Monday that Spurs will appeal the red card shown to Heung-Min Son during Sunday’s 2-0 Premier League defeat to Chelsea.
The South Korean was dismissed in the second half of Sunday’s 2-0 loss to their London rivals after VAR ruled he kicked out at Antonio Rudiger – an incident that led to the alleged racist abuse of the Germany international.
Referee Anthony Taylor did not punish Son, but VAR checked it and deemed he was guilty of violent conduct, ending up with a red card.
“I hope Son is not punished five times,” Mourinho said. “One time was the foul that Rudiger did on him. The second is to be sent off. The third would be not to play against Brighton. The fourth not to play against Norwich and the fifth not to play against Southampton.
“So I hope to be punished twice is enough, he doesn’t deserve for the third the fourth or the fifth.”
Mourinho went on a lengthy anti-VAR rant, suggesting that it was not being implemented correctly and that the VAR official – in this instance Paul Tierney – was the man refereeing the game.
“Mr Paul Tierney decides yes and Mr Anthony Taylor who was in the game, in real time, five metres from the situation, Mr Taylor decided no,” he said. “So who was refereeing the game? Not Mr Taylor. It was Mr Tierney.
“I think not a red card, VAR was to support football, to bring true football, to bring true to the spectacle and they did that with the penalty decision and they killed the game with Son’s decision.
“The situation with Son, I think Mr Tierney made it wrong. It’s the wrong call.
“This is England, this is the Premier League, this is the best competition in the world, with characteristics that if we change them we are killing the best league in the world.
“We don’t have [Erik] Lamela and it’s a big loss for us. But if that happens then we have to try to cope with it and to fight against injustice.
“But the way to fight against injustice is to give our best and the boys that are going to play are going to try and get results in it.”
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Lamela is back in training after two months out with a hamstring injury, but Mourinho said he will not be fit enough to be involved against the Seagulls.