Tottenham fail with appeal against Son red card

Tottenham Hotspur have failed with their appeal against Son Heung-min's red card, the Football Association announced Tuesday.

The South Korean winger saw red in the second half of Spurs' 2-0 loss at home to Chelsea in a spiteful London derby on Sunday after VAR confirmed he had kicked out at Blues defender Antonio Rudiger after being fouled.

Tottenham launched an appeal but the FA upheld his red card, meaning Son will now serve a three-game ban ruling him out of the matches at home to Brighton on Boxing Day, and at Norwich and Southampton on Saturday and New Year's Day respectively.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was unhappy with Rudiger's reaction in the build-up to Son's dismissal, saying he should "stand up and play man" but Blues boss Frank Lampard defended his player's conduct on Tuesday.

"It (the sending off) wasn't brutal but it was instinctive that warrants a red card in the modern day," said former England midfielder Lampard, who played under Mourinho when the Portuguese was in charge of Chelsea.

"It was pretty clear that was the case. I wouldn't question Toni's integrity on that."
"We shall continue to take the strongest action possible against anyone found to be behaving in this way."