Frank Lampard lets Didier Drogba take penalty against Tottenham Spurs to no avail
Chelsea midfielder, Frank Lampard, revealed that he did not want to claim glory for a Chelsea win, when he made a surprise return for the Blues against Tottenham at White Hart Lane, and had a chance to take the injury time penalty.
Frank Lampard is the Blues’ regular penalty taker but on Sunday it was striker Didier Drogba, who stepped up to take the kick from the penalty spot and then missed it. Lampard stepped aside to let Drogba take the spot kick because he did not want to take credit for the win.
Drogba’s penalty, if it had hit the back of the net, would have given Chelsea a win after a particularly bad few weeks. However, it was Lampard’s first match after his return from injury, after three months and the England international chose to let Drogba take it.
The return against Spurs was a surprise, before the match Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti had claimed that Lampard was not match fit and would most probably not make an appearance. Lampard started on the bench but was brought on towards the end of second half, to help make a difference.
However, Lampard seems to have returned to full fitness and is set to start against Manchester United this Sunday. The Blues will welcome United at Stamford Bridge this weekend in a very important clash, which will determine if they are still title contenders.
So far Lampard has had a terrible season, being injured for the better part of it. Having returned, he was hopeful it was more permanent. He said, “It’s a difficult one, but it looked like I would not be playing two days earlier. Then I played after only training for two days with the lads, in three months. I haven’t practiced a penalty in all that time and I always like to practice them. I thought it would have been wrong for me to come on and try to take personal glory on my return, rather than let Didi take it, because he has been practicing”.
He added, “So I gave it to Didi. I could easily say I would have buried it, but that is not always the case. We can all miss them – and credit to Didi for stepping up. Hopefully now I can practice some in the week and get back to taking them”.
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