Antonio Rudiger was raging with Chelsea goalie Kepa Arrizabalaga during their victory over Arsenal on Sunday at the Emirates as the pair argued over who should have dealt with a long ball forward.
Chelsea were second best for much of the London derby but rallied late on, with Jorginho – who was lucky to still be on the pitch – netting an equaliser from close range after a mistake from Bernd Leno before Tammy Abraham secured all three points for Lampard’s team moments later.
Arsenal were more direct in search of an equaliser and, despite leading, Rudiger and Kepa clashed after the German defender thumped a ball out of play under no pressure.
Rudiger, who was sporting a head bandage after an earlier collision, had plenty of time and space to play the ball back to Kepa but instead handed possession straight back to the gunners.
His teammates were all waving at him and instructing him to play the ball to the goalkeeper, though Rudiger seemed to be unhappy with the lack of communication from his keeper.
After blasting the ball into the stands, Rudiger got into a shouting match with Kepa, throwing his hands up at the keeper in disgust for not being more decisive – though he clearly felt the defender had plenty of time pass the ball back.
Fortunately for Chelsea, they clung onto their slender lead and Rudiger and Kepa made up at full-time, embracing when the referee blew the final whistle and hugging as they walked over to celebrate with the fans.
The result gives Chelsea a four-point cushion ahead of the rest of the chasing pack in the race to finish in top four, with Manchester United sitting in fifth place.
