Frank Lampard warned Tammy Abraham to abide by the “rules” after the Chelsea striker argued with Cesar Azpilicueta over who should take a penalty in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Crystal Palace. With Chelsea leading 3-0 in the second half, Abraham wanted to shoot the Blues’ second penalty of the match in place of Jorginho, who is the team’s point shooting expert and had already scored a minute earlier. Abraham and Timo Werner discussed who should have it before Chelsea captain Azpilicueta intervened in a briefly heated debate. He snatched the ball from Abraham’s hands and handed it to Jorginho, prompting a dismissive salute from the forward. But Jorginho scored again to prove Azpilicueta’s point before Chelsea manager Lampard made it clear to Abraham that he was wrong.
“It’s been fixed. I want leaders and I don’t mind a bit of conflict. If Tammy wanted to take it because she wants a goal or whatever, then they can put him in his place a little bit,” Lampard said.
“I appreciate your enthusiasm because your performance was worth a goal, but the rules are that you don’t jump ahead of the list at any point. So, resolved.”
Abraham’s outburst, fueled by his desire to score his first league goal this season, could not overshadow Lampard’s delight when Chelsea returned to the court.
Ben Chilwell, who suffered a heel injury, got off to a late start to his first season with Chelsea following his £ 50 million ($ 64 million) move from Leicester in August.
But the England left-back is making up for lost time after delivering an influential performance in his third game after a pair of League Cup matches.
While Lampard has invested in a host of attacking talent since the end of last season, it was Chilwell’s efforts here that broke Palace’s tenacious defense at Stamford Bridge.
Chilwell’s powerful shot put Chelsea ahead shortly after the break and provided the assist for Kurt Zouma’s header as the Blues doubled their lead.
Jorginho’s penalty double ensured Chelsea bounced back from their midweek League Cup loss to Tottenham and ended a streak of two consecutive league games without a win.
The defensive errors that contributed to their 3-3 draw at West Bromwich Albion were erased and, crucially, Lampard’s men found their leading edge against defensive opponents.
“Not many put four beyond Crystal Palace. We just needed to increase the urgency of our game. We needed Ben Chilwell to come into the game,” Lampard said.
We couldn’t allow the four Palace full-backs to say that dealing with Chelsea’s front row was easy.
“Ben Chilwell was fantastic today. His ability to be so high on the field, and that’s not a bad thing, and his great quality on the ball.”
– Coup de grace –
Lampard makes six changes to the team that fell three goals at West Brom last weekend.
With the experienced Azpilicueta and Jorginho back in the starting lineup, Chelsea seemed more stable and mature.
The first half followed a pattern familiar to Chelsea, who often dominated games without taking the knockout last season.
But this time they had the solution as the spirited Chilwell finally broke the deadlock in the 50th minute.
Palace defender Mamadou Sakho took the opportunity to clear Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross and Azpilicueta hooked the ball to Abraham, whose determined header allowed Chilwell to shoot home from six yards.
Chilwell was proving impossible for Palace to contain and was the catalyst for Chelsea’s second goal in the 66th minute.
Chilwell playfully threw a cross into the Palace area from the left and found Zouma and the defender soared over Sakho to head home.
Promoted
Chelsea was in control now and Jorginho made the triple in the 78th minute when he scored a penalty after Abraham was fouled by Tyrick Mitchell.
Sakho conceded another penalty four minutes later and, after Abraham’s tantrum, Jorginho kept his concentration to make the fourth.
Topics mentioned in this article
.
