Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger escaped red card for reckless two-footed tackle v Brighton | OneFootball

Antonio Rudiger is the definition of a no-nonsense defender.

The Germany international must be an absolute nightmare to come up against and he's been at the very top of his game since Thomas Tuchel took charge of Chelsea.

Rudiger is recognised as one of the best centre-backs in the world these days and fans are desperate for him to sign a new contract at Stamford Bridge, with his current deal expiring in the summer.

The former AS Roma man is everything you could want in a modern day defender, although he is prone to the odd moment of madness.

That was certainly the case against Brighton on Wednesday evening, with Rudiger lucky to avoid a first red card in a Chelsea shirt during the first half.

Shortly after Romelu Lukaku had put the Blues 1-0 up in west London, the defender was guilty of a reckless - and totally unnecessary - two-footed tackle on Tariq Lamptey.

Rudiger well and truly flew into the challenge and was lucky that his actions didn't result in serious injury for the Brighton wing-back.

Take a look at the tackle in question here...

Video: Rudiger's tackle on Lamptey

Those replays don't look great, do they?

Given the fact that most two-footed tackles are severely punished in modern day football, Rudiger was incredibly fortunate to escape with just a yellow card.

Luckily for Chelsea, he remained on the pitch but the German was unable to prevent a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser from Brighton.

Former Manchester United and Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck was the man who grabbed the goal to break the hearts of Chelsea players and fans.

The Blues are now just a point ahead of Liverpool going into their high-profile encounter on January 2nd and to make matters worse, Thomas Tuchel's side have played a game more...

10 questions on Stamford Bridge: How much do you know about Chelsea's home ground?

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What year was Stamford Bridge first built?

1876 1886 1896 1906