Frank Lampard believes VAR should have intervened to disallow Omar Marmoush’s goal for an elbow on Milan van Ewijk as Tottenham beat Coventry 3-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Marmoush restored Spurs’ lead in the 58th minute as he curled home his first goal since joining the club from Manchester City in the summer. In the lead-up to the goal, though, Marmoush appeared to catch Van Ewijk with a high hand as he attempted to hold him off. He left the Coventry man crumpled on the floor before lashing a smart finish beyond Carl Rushworth.
VAR Clears Marmoush Strike
VAR checked the incident and cleared it, allowing Marmoush’s goal to stand. Speaking at full-time, Lampard questioned that decision, saying he expected the VAR to chalk his strike off.
“I did think that (VAR should have looked at it),” said the Coventry boss. “I think if you roll and your elbows are that high and it connects with Milan in the contact it did, I thought VAR would cancel it. I did.”
“You have to be really careful how you choose your words after this because there's no point in getting after the event to get too deep into it. But I absolutely felt that.”
Coventry Boss Cites Other Decisions
He continued, suggesting Coventry were on the wrong end of some other questionable decisions during the match: “The little bits add up, the corner adds up, Brandon (Thomas-Asante) getting fouled trying to stay on his feet and then another little action and you don't get the advantage late into the game is a big deal for us. That's all I'll say about it.”
While he was frustrated with the result, Lampard insisted there were positives for Coventry to take back north with them.
“A really good display. 3-1 changes the view at the end of the game, but I thought at 2-1 we were really pushing,” Lampard continued. “It takes them two outstanding and world-class goals to score their goals. (Tottenham) will get better and improve for sure, but when you think that eight of our starting players were in the Championship.”
“You wouldn’t know which is the team that has been in the Premier League for the last 25 years and who has been out of it for 25 years.”
