Published>Wed, Apr 21 10 06:27 PM
London, Apr 21 (ANI): Chelsea star Frank Lampard has accepted that Paul Scholes' last-gasp stunner in the Manchester derby spooked his side, but guaranteed that Chelsea would still lift the title.
England ace Lampard's 22nd competitive goal of another remarkably prolific campaign was not enough to prevent Carlo Ancelotti's Blues slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Spurs a few hours after Scholes salvaged a Manchester United victory at Eastlands, reports The Mirror.
The Chelsea players watched the last moments of that match together and were rocked by the consequences, as they failed to get their game going at White Hart Lane.
Chelsea needs three straight wins that would guarantee them their first title since 2006.
Lampard conceded the hammer-blow struck by his former England team-mate had impacted on Ancelotti's side at Tottenham.
"What happened on Saturday was disappointing, especially with Manchester United's result. When they scored in the last minute it was hard," said Lampard.
"If they had drawn the game it would have left us in a very healthy position but now it's tighter," he added.
The midfielding ace attempted to lift the spirits of the travelling Blues fans in the immediate aftermath of the defeat, reminding them that Chelsea were still a point clear of United.
That was the message Ancelotti reinforced when his squad returned to their training base at Cobham yesterday after two days off.
Lampard further said Chelsea would have to play far better against Stoke than they did at Spurs to ensure all their hard work of the past nine months does not get thrown away.
"When we went 1-0 down they got their confidence and when the game went to 2-0 it put us under a lot pressure and they are a good side.Then the game got messy in the second half and we went down to 10 men," he added.
Lampard, who will be stand-in skipper on Sunday, with John Terry suspended after his red card at Spurs said: "To be fair we had quite a lot of the ball in their box. But we just couldn't find that last little pass. We were trying to get back into the game and with the last goal we had a bit of a lift but it's difficult with 10 men."
"But we have to get on with it now, understand it and not dwell on it because if we win our next three games we win the League," he added. (ANI)
Source: Web Search
0 comments:
Post a Comment