Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has downplayed the incident which saw striker Christian Benteke sent off for clashing with Ryan Mason during the 2-1 defeat by Tottenham on Sunday, saying that it was not a "Mike Tyson punch" and his "daughter can punch harder".
Benteke was shown his marching orders 25 minutes from time during the loss, with replays appearing to show the Belgium striker push his hand into Mason's face.
"You cannot condone what he did, but it is not like he threw a Mike Tyson punch," Lambert told BBC Sport.
"My daughter can punch harder."
Lambert added: "He was provoked. If you go back a frame in the video, you can see the lad puts his head into Christian's face. I can understand what Christian's done, even though I can't condone it."
Show all 23 1 /23Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Aston Villa: Brad Guzan Had to be alert throughout with his defence offering him limited protection at times – saved very well from Adebayor when the Spurs striker was through on goal. 6/10
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Nathan Baker Looked a little vulnerable but had dealt with everything Tottenham threw at him until the final moments. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Matthew Lowton Impressive going forward as he provided a beautiful cross for Benteke early on and then almost scored himself as he snuck onto the end of a Sanchez cross – not so good defensively but partly due to a lack of support from N’Zogbia. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Aly Cissokho Hugely positive impact on the game going forward – twice set up Benteke with good chances as he surged up and down the left flank. 7
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Ron Vlaar Allowed Spurs forwards to find too much space in between himself and Lowton and right-back, but did well to recover by blocking shots on a number of occasions. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Carlos Sanchez Anchored the Villa midfield fantastically – always showing for the ball and distributing it well. 7
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Ashley Westwood Workmanlike performance from Westwood – appeared to lose his composure a little bit as tempers flared during the second half. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Tom Cleverley A reasonable performance but he doesn’t stand out in this Villa side – will be very lucky to ever play for Manchester United again. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Charles N'Zogbia Made the goal through a combination of determination and skill – typified his direct and fearless approach to the game. 7
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Andreas Weimann He actually had a pretty quiet game but provided the all-important goal to end Villa’s scoring drought – took it well. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Christian Benteke Played so well in the first half and looked close to his best but let his manager down when he got himself sent off after getting involved in an unnecessary confrontation with Ryan Mason. 4
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Tottenham: Hugo Lloris Helpless for the Villa goal and rarely called upon to make saves despite Villa having some decent chances. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Kyle Naughton Did a solid job but unable to provide the same attacking impact he did against Brighton earlier in the week. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Jan Vertonghen Looks relatively assured alongside Kaboul but also struggled to deal with the physicality of Benteke. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Younes Kaboul How the captain is keeping his place in the Spurs side is beyond me – he has been calamitous all season and today was no different. Bullied by Benteke and fluffed a great chance at the other end. 4
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Danny Rose Will be disappointed he lost out to N’Zogbia in the build up to the Villa goal – aside from that offered a good outlet going forward on numerous occasions. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Christian Eriksen Failed to capitalise on some good situations in the opening stages and was withdrawn by his manager at half-time. 5
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Etienne Capoue Solid but unspectacular showing from the central midfielder – yet to show he is any better than the likes of Paulinho and Sandro who he has been chosen over by Mauricio Pochettino. 5
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Nacer Chadli Sometimes isn’t direct enough when in good positions but did well to convert his big chance when it came – a well-placed volley which got his side level. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Ryan Mason Good performance from the youngster but yet to show he has the quality to affect the game in the final third. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Emmanuel Adebayor Played some nice passes through the Villa defence but missed his big chance when through one-on-one – interesting that he was withdrawn on the hour mark and not Roberto Soldado. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Roberto Saldado Had some good moments – most notably when he put his strike partner Emmanuel Adebayor in on goal but still seems to be lacking confidence in front of goal. 6
Getty
Aston Villa 1 Tottenham 2 player ratings Best of the bench: Harry Kane (Tottenham) The boy wonder did the business again – he came off the bench and invigorated his side before getting a slightly fortuitous winner in the 90th minute as his free kick was deflected in. 8
Getty
Benteke was making his third start for Villa since returning from six months out with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies