Lampard defends Hudson-Odoi after Burnley booking

Frank Lampard has defended Callum Hudson-Odoi and insisted the Chelsea youngster was unfairly booked for diving against Burnley.

Chelsea were initially awarded a penalty after Hudson-Odoi, on as a substitute, went down in the area.

But VAR overturned the decision and the England international was shown a yellow card.

Lampard, whose side won 4-2, argued that the punishment was unfair.

The Blues boss also pointed to the ease with which Burnley striker Ashley Barnes often goes down in search of a free-kick.

“If I felt like it was a dive I would speak to Callum and say that that’s not what we’re about,” Lampard said.

“But when you’re moving into the box at pace and cutting across defenders, whether VAR decides it’s a penalty or not is one thing, I thought there were a lot of things going on in the game of people going down under not a lot of contact.

“Their bench wanted everything that was happening. Every time Ashley Barnes has a contest in the air he falls to the ground and they want to get a free-kick to stick it in your box.

“So let’s be clear that these things do still happen all over football. It’s a fast game and people are trying to win.

“If it was a dive I’d address it, for sure. I need to look at it back but I don’t think it’s as clean-cut an argument as that.”