Antonio Rudiger: Jose Mourinho says Chelsea defender must have ‘broken ribs’ after Son Heung-min red card

South Korean international was sent off after lashing out at the Chelsea centre-back

Jose Mourinho sarcastically suggested Antonio Rudiger may be suffering from “broken ribs” after the defender’s role in Son Heung-min‘s red card.

The Spurs head coach insisted Son should not have been sent off, despite the forward clearly kicking out at Rudiger after being fouled by the centre-back during Chelsea’s 2-0 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Despite the decision being subject to a VAR review, Mourinho continued to question Rudiger’s response to the kick, which saw the centre-back fall to the floor clutching his stomach.

“Rudiger for sure is having scans in the hospital on broken ribs because it was really a violent situation,” said Mourinho. “In some countries like mine for example with our culture we used to say ‘clever player’.

“But in this country, and one of the reasons why I fell in love with this country in 2004, is because we don’t call them clever. We call them other things, that I refuse to call him.

“For me it is not a red card. I think if we go to every person in this room, some will say yes, and some will say no. And that’s not the essence of the VAR, the initial protocol of VAR. VAR is for the penalty of the first half, a clear and obvious mistake; 65,000 people in the stadium looked to the screen and they knew it was a penalty. For me that’s VAR.

“When you have that situation with Son and Rudiger, it’s not a clear and obvious mistake by the referee. I think the mistake of the referee is not to give a yellow card to Rudiger. Because the way he fouls Son, that is the clear mistake. But then VAR goes to the Son situation, which I believe is not.

“In some opinion people will say yes, but that’s not for VAR. So for me it’s really, really bad, and basically kills the game. It’s the slow-motion, it’s the angles, everything.”

Mourinho also credited Antonio Conte for the 3-4-3 system Chelsea adopted during the victory, suggesting Frank Lampard had copied the style the former Chelsea manager had “played for two years”.

“They played in the system they are very comfortable with, a system they played for two years under Antonio Conte,” he said. “So they had the game in our half in spite of them not creating a lot

Antonio Rudiger reacts after being kicked by Son Heung-min (Reuters)

“In the end, they were superior. But then you look to the goals, and the goals are not a consequence of any superiority.

“The goals are from a short corner with a big mistake, and we know how to defend short corners. And then we conceded a penalty. So the goals came from mistakes.”

However, Frank Lampard baulked at the suggestion he’d copied Conte’s style.

“No, that didn’t factor at all. I’m not trying to clone anyone’s system. In fact the Conte system that won the league at Chelsea was an incredible system. But the way I play, the message that I give is different.

“It’s not so simple that if you play 3-4-3 you’re cloning someone else, otherwise everyone would be cloning everyone else.”