Lampard confirms Rudiger and Azpilicueta are taking up alleged racist incident with officials

Chelsea coach Frank Lampard confirmed Antonio Rudiger and captain Cesar Azpilicueta discussed the alleged racist abuse by Tottenham fans towards the former with Premier League officials after Sunday’s match.

The Blues ran out 2-0 winners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but the contest was marred by an incident in the second half.

Spurs’ Son Heung-min was sent off for kicking out at Rudiger and the German reported to Azpilicueta that he had been targeted by racist chants soon after.

Lampard subsequently confirmed the pair raised the issue with Premier League officials after the fixture, while Spurs have launched their own investigation.

“My understanding is that there was a racist comment, gesture or whatever that may be,” Lampard told Sky Sports.

Following an alleged incident of racism at today’s fixture against Chelsea, the Club has issued the following statement.

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 22, 2019

“I’ve not spoken to Toni about it, but I know Cesar was there as well and now they’re speaking to the officials, as they should do afterwards.

“From our point of view, whether here or at Stamford Bridge, we want the right procedure in place, so we’ll leave that to them [the authorities] to get it sorted.”

It had been suggested Rudiger overreacted to Son’s kick, but Lampard is adamant it was deserving of a red card and he also thinks Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga was fortunate to stay on the pitch when conceding a first-half penalty for a wild and high challenge on Marcos Alonso.

“I think the penalty probably should’ve been a red card, because he’s flown out at him with a sort of kung-fu kick.

“I don’t think he meant it, so I think that was the answer from the referee [in terms of why he was only booked]. When you take someone out at that level, it can be a red, but fine we get the penalty.

“The Son one I think isn’t that heavy, but it’s a kick out and a kick out is a red card.”