Aston Villa football team manager Paul Lambert is disappointed that their striker Christian Benteke was shown a red card for slapping Tottenham Hotspurs' Ryan Mason during his side's 2-1 loss on Sunday.
Tottenham soared up the Premier League table with a 2-1 victory against 10-man Villa, thanks to a last-minute winner by substitute Harry Kane, which was also his seventh goal in as many games.
Andreas Weimann's 16th-minute goal gave Villa the lead but the hosts had to play the final 25 minutes a man down after striker Benteke was shown a red card for a slap on the face of Mason, Sport24 reported.
Tottenham eventually made their advantage pay by scoring two goals inside the final six minutes at Villa Park as Nacer Chadli struck from a corner before rising star Kane grabbed the winner.
Victory saw Tottenham climb to eighth place, six points above the relegation zone but Villa's sixth league loss in a row meant they remained just two points above the bottom three.
For all that Benteke deserved to be sent off, Mason was fortunate not to be shown a red card as well after appearing to headbutt the Villa forward.
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Lambert said that he thought Villa were excellent throughout the game, adding that its OK that they lost but the red card changed the game. He said that there were so many positives but one disappointment.
The Villa boss said that Benteke was showing great form, Tottenham could not handle him and it is disappointing with the red card. He added that one cannot condone what the striker did but it is not like he threw a Mike Tyson punch.
Lambert said that his daughter could punch harder than that.