Lampard Believes VAR Should Have Cancelled Marmoush Goal for Van Ewijk Elbow

• Frank Lampard says he expected VAR to cancel Omar Marmoush’s goal for Tottenham, which Lampard believes followed an elbow to Coventry defender Milan van Ewijk.
• The goal restored Spurs’ lead just after Jack Rudoni had equalised, and Tottenham went on to win 3-1 for their first Premier League victory of the season.
• Jamie Carragher says Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth “has got to save” the Marmoush effort, while Rudoni insists it could have finished 2-2.

Lampard Picks His Words Carefully After a Goal He Thought Would Be Ruled Out

Frank Lampard chose his words with care after Coventry lost at Tottenham, but he left no doubt about what he expected from the video assistant referee. Asked about Omar Marmoush’s goal, the Coventry head coach said: “I did think that, I thought VAR would cancel it.”

Then he stopped himself. “You have to be careful how you choose your words,” Lampard said. “I felt that. That is all I’ll say about it. We will analyse the game back.”

The Incident That Split the Game

Spurs won 3-1 on Monday night, with James Maddison, Marmoush and Ben Davies on the scoresheet. The result was Tottenham’s first win of the Premier League season and lifted them off the bottom of the table.

The flashpoint came soon after the break. Jack Rudoni had equalised for Coventry after the break, and Marmoush restored the lead for Roberto De Zerbi’s side almost immediately with a strike into the far corner. In the build-up, Marmoush appeared to strike Van Ewijk in the face. VAR checked the incident, cleared it and allowed the goal to stand.

Lampard believes the officials should have gone the other way. In his view, the contact on Van Ewijk meant the goal should have been ruled out. He declined to say more.

Carragher Turns on the Coventry Goalkeeper

Not everyone agreed that the referee was the story. On Monday Night Football, Jamie Carragher said Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth should have stopped the Marmoush shot. “He has got to save it! He’s had a difficult start in the Premier League. That’s being kind really,” Carragher said.

“He’s found it tough and he’s going to have to step up more than he has done, the Coventry goalkeeper,” he added. If Rushworth had made the save, the score would have stayed at 1-1.

Lampard also gave an honest account of the evening in his interview with Sky Sports. “We’re very disappointed. I thought we were really good in the first half, which is hard to say after a 3-1 defeat,” he said. He called the last goal “obviously a mistake”. He said his players showed “real personality” and can “come away with their heads held high”.

Coventry Still Believe They Belong

Coventry are newly promoted and lost their first four Premier League games without scoring. They then beat Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, so a narrow defeat at Spurs left them frustrated rather than flattened. Lampard pointed out that eight of his starting XI played last season when Coventry got out of the Championship, and described Tottenham as a “fully loaded squad”.

“We had more than competed in the game, in terms of our feeling, our play and how we approached it,” he said. “We’re never happy with a defeat, and I don’t want to overpraise the performance, but I can be honest with the players.”

Rudoni took the same line. “We felt we did well as a team and took the game plan to them well. In the end, it could really have been 2-2,” the midfielder told Sky Sports. He said the late concession so soon after levelling was the sore point. “It was frustrating to concede so soon after getting the equaliser, but it’s tough away from home against a good team.”

Rudoni also gave Tottenham credit and singled out the scorer. “Marmoush came inside and showed his quality to put the ball in the back of the net,” he said.

Next up for Coventry is a home game on Saturday against Fulham, which Lampard called “a real test”. Rudoni said the squad has “two massive games coming up” and wants to take the positives from London. Lampard has promised that Coventry will analyse the game back.