Paul Lambert was pleased with his team’s performance in their loss against Tottenham, yet was disappointed with the sending off of forward Christian Benteke.
The Belgian striker was sent off in the 65th minute by referee Neil Swarbrick for raising his hand to Spurs midfielder Ryan Mason.
[ RECAP: Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham ]
Down to ten men, Villa could not hold off a late surge by Tottenham as Spurs scored twice inside the final ten minutes to steal a 2-1 win.
The Villa boss praised Benteke’s play, saying he didn’t think the Tottenham defense could handle the striker, who looked dangerous throughout the match. However, he said he could not condone his sending off as his young player must learn how to control his emotions on the pitch.
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When asked about the red card, Lambert delivered one of the quotes of the season.
Benteke’s “punch” was not malicious and he had no intent to injure Ryan Mason. But the striker must know better not to raise his hand to an opposing player, and the referee had no choice but to pull out the red card from his pocket.
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Villa will now be without their top striker as Benteke will be forced to serve a suspension from the FA. That’s bad news for Paul Lambert as his side have now dropped six straight matches and continue to fall down the Premier League table.
