Frank Lampard back to his best as Chelsea rebound in style

Back to his best: goal celebrations have been something of a rarity for Frank Lampard this season, making last night’s all the sweeter
11 April 2012
Chelsaea 4-0 Athletico Madrid

All the talk at Chelsea's training ground this week has been about the importance of defending set plays. But for Frank Lampard, the worry about defensive frailties at least knocked the previous No1 subject off the top of the agenda - namely his chronic lack of goals this season.

So while a clean sheet against Atletico last night was always going to help heal some of the wounds caused by the defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend, what really lifted the gloom was Lampard ending his 10-game goal drought.

The sight of keeper Petr Cech making some fine saves and the defenders successfully marking Atletico's players at corners and free kicks certainly gave the home crowd reason to cheer following the debacle at Villa Park. Yet there was no doubting the biggest roar came when Lampard's shot found the bottom corner in the 69th minute.

If Chelsea are to challenge for major honours this term, they need the Englishman in form and occupying his customary position high in the goal-scoring charts.

The midfielder's troubles this season so far have been well documented. A player who had boasted an amazing record of 100 goals in the previous five seasons at Stamford Bridge hadn't found the net in over two months and his last strike was from the penalty spot.

Despite his protests to the contrary, the 31-year-old has struggled to adapt to Carlo Ancelotti's diamond midfield system but fortunately Didier Drogba's fine scoring form, the Ivorian has seven League goals this season, has helped compensate for his unusually subdued team-mate.

Other players will of course contribute goals during the course of the season, however Lampard and Drogba are the driving force behind Chelsea's ambitions so the side can ill-afford to have either of them below par.

It is inevitable that Drogba's goal glut will slow at some stage. Even if it does not, he will still be missing for six weeks in the new year when he goes to the African Nations' Cup.

So it was certainly time for Lampard to step up and he showed some nice touches in general play before rediscovering his goal-scoring touch against the Spanish side.

He played a part in both of Salomon Kalou's strikes, which put the home side 2-0 in front. He supplied a lovely pass for Ashley Cole to send in a fine cross to the striker in the first half and then a good corner kick for him to head home after the break.

But it was his crisp finish from the edge of the box which drew most acclaim from the stands and it wasn't because he had finally overtaken legendary striker Jimmy Greaves to become the fifth highest scorer in the club's history on 133 goals. It was relief.

Captain John Terry has been mystified by the furore surrounding Lampard's form, yet even he admitted to taking special joy in seeing his team-mate find the net.

He said: "It's brilliant to see him score again. You could see by the celebrations with the players all surrounding him what it meant.

"It's great for him to get off the mark after two months without a goal. When he gets one, they all seem to come along after that. Hopefully that's the first of many more to come.

"He hasn't been troubled by it at all. He's just been staying out after training practicing and working hard. He's one of the best finishers from outside the box I've come across.

"Frank's a top player whatever and he'll always find space to get in the right positions at the right time. It's something he does naturally. You can't teach people that. It's brilliant he broke Jimmy's record, but he's going to break many more records - appearances and goals. Long may it continue."

While Lampard had a good reason to celebrate at the final whistle, Terry was taking satisfaction from seeing the team keep a clean sheet. It looked unlikely in the opening minutes as both Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero went close, but all the set pieces were defended with more assurance than on the weekend.

Significantly, Ricardo Carvalho had been dropped to the bench, with the more physical Branislav Ivanovic taking his place, and there were no signs of him being brushed aside.

It meant once Kalou had scored either side of half-time the game was effectively over, with Lampard's strike and a Luis Perea own goal adding a welcome gloss.

In the defeat at Villa Park, Terry was shown contorting with rage at his team-mates' failings. Now he was leaping to their defence.

He added: "It's just one of those things. You go through a season and you're going to concede from set pieces or whatever.

"I think the more you speak and go into detail about it, the more worried you are going to get individually and collectively as a group.

"But we defended very well against Atletico. We made a few minor adjustments. We got told to stay with our men a lot better than we did against Villa at the weekend. We marked the space more as well.

"We've always stressed about our quality going forward, but to have three clean sheets and three wins in the Champions League is a really good start."

Chelsea are now in such a strong position in Group D following Porto's victory over Apoel that they will only need one point away to Atletico in two weeks time to secure their place in the knock-out phase.

In all likelihood, the Spanish side will have changed their manager by then, for coach Abel Resino is facing the sack with his side also struggling in La Liga. Chelsea's worries don't seem quite so bad after all.

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