Lampard gets Chelsea winner but Ashley Cole loses his cool

FRANK LAMPARD came off the bench to score the crucial goal for Chelsea in their 2-1 defeat of Manchester City last night. It was the Sky Blues’ first league defeat of the season and they now sit only two points clear of Manchester United at the top of the table.

Chelsea lie in third, seven points behind City, and according to the Daily Mail, Ashley Cole let his delight at the result get the better of him. On his way back to the dressing room, the England and Chelsea left-back allegedly hurled “an X-rated and aggressive 'Have That!'” cry at the opposition, which provoked a furious riposte from the visitors.

Later, City manager Roberto Mancini tried to play down the incident, saying: “I don't know if Cole said something. I didn't understand it but... they were lively because they beat a top team.”

Lampard also tried to defuse any potential controversy at the post-match conference in which he was the centre of attention. “Sometimes you get overheated,” said the 33-year-old. “Big games, big players who want to win things on both sides, and there was a bit of frustration. I've been involved in that before but there's general respect from both teams to each other.”

Instead Lampard preferred to talk about what had happened on the pitch at Stamford Bridge in a pulsating contest played in atrocious conditions.

City took the lead after only two minutes when Sergio Aguero’s deft pass found Mario Balotelli and the 21-year-old Italian coolly rounded Petr Cech to slot home his 11th goal of the season. The visitors continued to dominate in the driving rain but then against the run of play Chelsea equalised on 34 minutes.

The Blues’ young striker Daniel Sturridge breezed past City’s Gael Clichy out wide and his cross was hammered home by Raul Meireles.
 
Clichy’s night went from bad to worse after the break as he received two yellow cards in the space of a ten minutes. Then, seven minutes from time, Sturridge's shot was blocked in the box by the arms of Joleon Lescott. Lampard – on the pitch for only ten minutes – stepped up to convert the spot kick.

It was a sweet moment for Lampard, who later admitted he didn’t know why manager Andre Villas-Boas had demoted him to the bench. “I was on a good run of form, I was scoring regularly and playing pretty well and now I'm in and out but what can you do?” said Lampard. “I'm 33 — I understand. But I want to play regularly for this club.”

Lampard dismissed rumours that his reduced status at the Bridge might prompt him to seek a fresh challenge elsewhere. “I've 18 months left on my contract and I'll be here for that long and keep trying my hardest.” ·