Relieved Lampard ends drought

FRANK LAMPARD ensured his Chelsea team-mates worked their way back into Carlo Ancelotti’s good books after the weekend defeat against Aston Villa with a comfortable win that takes the club to the brink of qualification to the knock- out phase of the Champions League.

Lampard was the decisive figure in the game, setting up Salomon Kalou’s opening two goals before making sure of the win himself with a 69th minute third.

A headed own-goal from Atletico’s Luis Perea merely added gloss to the scoreline that leaves Chelsea needing just two points from their final three games to advance.

Lampard was relieved to end his drought and admitted his recent form in front of goal had been below par.

“Sometimes the goals don’t come and it’s been like that for me recently,” he said.

“But I always believed and knew I had to keep working hard and the goals will come with a bit of luck.

“It was a great performance from everyone.”

Lampard had not scored in his 10 previous Chelsea appearances, a rare barren run for the midfielder who has made plundering valuable strikes a big part of his game.

“When you (usually) score fairly regularly, and when you don’t score, people ask questions,” Lampard said.

“Sometimes my finishing hasn’t been quite what it was last season so I kept plugging away, but after a barren patch hopefully I’ll score some more.’’

Ancelotti was pleased with his team’s display.

“We had a very good reaction and played very well,” he said. “We played well for 90 minutes without problems. I am happy. We are top of the group and this is what we want.”

The reverberations of Chelsea’s weekend defeat had been felt long after the final whistle had sounded at Villa Park with Michael Ballack revealing on the eve of this game that a lengthy inquest had taken place on Monday at the club’s training ground.

Ricardo Carvalho was singled out as the biggest culprit in Ancelotti’s second defeat since taking charge at Stanford Bridge and was dropped to the bench to be replaced by Branislav Ivanovic while Juliano Belletti stepped in for the injured Jose Bosingwa.

Ballack also returned after an ankle problem while Nicolas Anelka led the attack in place of the suspended Didier Drogba. At first, the changes appeared to have the desired effect.

Belletti in particular started positively, immediately attacking down the right hand flank and his third minute cross, directed accurately towards Salomon Kalou deserved better than to be met with a tame header that merely diverted the ball wide.

Kalou, who recently became the latest Chelsea player to commit his long term future to the club when he agreed a new four-year deal, quickly had a chance to atone that miss when Deco’s neat flick released Ballack on the right hand flank and the Germany international picked out his team-mate who was lurking unmarked on the edge of the penalty box.

A simple side-footed finish would have beaten the advancing Sergio Asenjo but instead, apparently intimidated by the onrushing keeper, the Ivorian sent the ball tamely wide.

In the 13th minute, Frank Lampard’s punted 45-yard free-kick had deceived the Atletico keeper and floated into the net only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

However with Argentina striker Sergio Aguero – a summer target for Chelsea – and former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan paired up front for Atletico, the visitors posed a significant threat whenever they moved forward and Forlan quickly brought out an excellent goal-line save from Cech with a close-range header in the ninth minute.

Midway through the first half he again tested the Chelsea keeper with an instinctive volley that Cech again did well to keep out.

Chelsea were labouring but they finally forged a lead four minutes before break thanks to a moment of inspiration from Lampard.

The England midfielder had been having a quiet evening, but he made the most significant intervention of the first half when he completely wrong-footed the visiting defence with a neat reverse pass that allowed Ashley Cole to reach the by-line and deliver a low cross towards Kalou in the six-yard box where the forward, on this occasion, couldn’t miss.

As so often, the goal fundamentally changed the balance of the game and when the teams reappeared after the break Chelsea – and in particular Kalou – were noticeably more confident while Atletico suddenly seemed crushed.

Almost immediately, Lampard produced another clever ball, this time an impudent chip to send Anelka clear and the striker’s powerful 50th minute shot was pushed onto the crossbar by Asenjo. Moments later Chelsea had forced another corner, again swung in by Lampard, which Kalou met unmarked and sent a powerful header inside the far post.

Two up and with Atletico apparently having thrown in the towel, the match was suddenly going to plan, particularly when Lampard put the result beyond dispute with a third goal in the 69th minute.

Once again it was the midfielder’s quick thinking that created the chance, this time when he played a quick one-two with Michael Essien and in sight of goal, 20 yards out, Lampard struck a powerful low drive that took a deflection as it sped past Asenjo.

And Chelsea finished off the night with a fourth when Perea headed Florent Malouda’s free-kick into his own net in the last minute.