Lampard calls for action

England midfielder Frank Lampard has called for action to prevent any repetition of the attack he faced from a Tottenham fan in the FA Cup.

Chelsea had just won the quarter-final replay at 2-1 at White Hart Lane on Monday and Lampard was celebrating in front of the Chelsea supporters when a fan ran on to the pitch and took a swing at him.

"It did shock me," Lampard said as he prepared for England's Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel on Saturday. "Fortunately I saw it coming and was prepared for it and luckily ducked out the way.

"It wasn't as bad as it could have been as an incident. But I hope that doesn't happen to me or anyone else again. It was strange. It was awkward, someone running at you like that ... Fans have come on the pitch before but not with that kind of aggressive nature.

"Emotions run high and I don't want to stand here and criticise too much. Of course, the measures need to be taken to make sure it doesn't happen again."

A Football Association spokesman had earlier described the scenes as "totally unacceptable" and said the FA would be contacting Spurs "as a matter of priority."

Lampard is now looking ahead to the game at Ramat Gan on Saturday, where England need to make up lost ground in Group E. Steve McClaren's men have dropped five points and slipped to third in the group after drawing with Macedonia and losing to leaders Croatia.

Difficult though it will be in Israel, compared with the game four days later against Andorra, Lampard believes England can have no excuses and need to make their ability and experience count.

"I hope we'll learn the lesson from Croatia because we didn't play as well as we should have done and we lost," Lampard said.

"We're full of players who have played in these atmospheres before - Champions League, England games - we've got the experience. So there's no excuses."

England have seven points, one behind Russia and three adrift of Croatia. Macedonia - who have played a game more - and Israel, are behind McClaren's men only on goal difference.

FA to contact Spurs over Fan attack

FA calls incident involving pitch invader 'totally unacceptable'

The Football Association has demanded an explanation from Tottenham Hotspur after two fans ran on to the pitch at White Hart Lane at the end of last night's quarter-final replay against Chelsea - and one of them attempted to punch Frank Lampard.

The FA described the incident as "totally unacceptable" and have asked Spurs to detail the security measures that were in place.

"These scenes were totally unacceptable and we will be contacting Spurs as a matter of priority," said a spokesman. "We want to establish what safety and security provisions were in place for the game and to confirm what action was taken against the fans who ran on to the pitch. We understand that both individuals were arrested and we would expect them to be given football banning orders."

The invader trying to punch Chelsea's Lampard

Lampard managed to dodge the punch before a slew of stewards tamed the fan, but the midfielder spoke of his unease at how close the intruder had been able to get to him.

"I saw the guy coming and wanted to keep my eye on him because if I turn my back, I thought I might get one on me," said Lampard. "I just ducked and the stewards got to him. The way he ran at me I think he'd had a few drinks. I don't think he should have been on the pitch in the first place, but you can understand there's a lot of emotion in a match like this."

The invader was wrestled down!

Premiership, Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea

Lampard strikes to sink City and cut United's lead

Chelsea moved to within six points of Premiership leaders Manchester United as Frank Lampard's 20th goal of the season gave them a 1-0 win over Manchester City.

Lampard sent Manchester City goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson the wrong way from the spot in the 28th minute after Micah Richards had been punished for tripping Salomon Kalou.



City had been keen to win over their supporters after a miserable run which also included an FA Cup exit at the hands of Blackburn. They started well with Joey Barton latching onto a clearance from the returning John Terry in the sixth minute, only to fire his effort high over the crossbar.
Emile Mpenza, making his first start for City, linked up well with Stephen Ireland three minutes later. However the move broke down when the Belgian striker strayed into an offside position for the return ball.


Play switched back down the other end and Arjen Robben took up a good position in the 12th minute but failed to test Isaksson. City midfielder Dietmar Hamann was then given a talking to by referee Alan Wiley for clipping Claude Makelele's heels.
Ireland tried to release Mpenza in the 19th minute but Ashley Cole made a timely intervention. Chelsea were taking their time to get going and Lampard tried to release Michael Ballack in the penalty area, only to overhit the pass and see the move break down.


A minute later Ireland pounced on a loose ball but snatched at his shot and saw it clear the bar, Yet it was Chelsea who made the breakthrough in the 28th minute when Lampard struck from the spot after Richards' misdemeanour.The young England defender pleaded his innocence after a foolish challenge but Lampard ignored the fuss with a cool finish.

Barton made a vain appeal for a penalty in the 31st minute after going to ground following a challenge from Makelele. ManchesterCity were refusing to lie down and Barton flashed a shot across the face of Peter Cech's goal in the 39th minute.
Chelsea, however, remained dangerous on the counter attack with Kalou, Didier Drogba and Robben always looking for openings.

Chelsea suffered a scare after the break when Terry started limping heavily after a challenge, and even though he carried on with what appeared to be an ankle injury, he still looked uncomfortable.

Richards made some amends for his earlier mistake after 56 minutes, clearing off the line after Lampard had lifted the ball over Isaksson towards the empty net.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho sent on City old boy Wright-Phillips for the subdued Arjen Robben with 13 minutes left, and he almost doubled Chelsea's lead within seconds of his arrival, hitting the bar with a rising 20-yard drive.

City's lack of invention was almost embarrassing, but Barton threatened an unlikely equaliser after 80 minutes - however, he shot wastefully wide.

Chelsea had hardly been peppering City's goal either, but Didier Drogba brought a block from Isaksson as time ran out.

And Isaksson then saved from Michael Ballack in injury time as Chelsea claimed the three points.

Manchester City: Isaksson, Richards, Dunne, Distin, Ball, Jihai (Miller 63), Ireland, Barton, Hamann (Dabo 80), Mpenza, Vassell (Samaras 72).
Subs Not Used: Hart, Dickov.

Booked: Hamann, Dunne, Richards.

Chelsea: Cech, Geremi, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Robben (Wright-Phillips 77), Ballack, Lampard, Makelele (Diarra 90), Kalou, Drogba.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Shevchenko, Boulahrouz.

Booked: Drogba, Ballack.

Goals: Lampard 28 pen.

Premiership Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea highlights and post match interviews:

FA Cup, Chelsea 3-3 Tottenham

Chelsea Comeback In Thriller

Chelsea and Tottenham have treated everyone watching to an unforgetable FA Cup tie and they will have to do it all again after it finished 3-3 at Stamford Bridge in 90 minutes of pure football madness!!



Chelsea had looked down and out at half-time after they trailed 3-1 to a vibrant Tottenham side.But second-half goals from Frank Lampard and substitute Salomon Kalou earned them a 3-3 draw and a replay at White Hart Lane against the odds.



First half:



Dimitar Berbatov shocked Chelsea by putting Spurs in front in the fifth minute but that was cancelled out by Lampard 17 minutes later. But an own goal by Michael Essien in the 28th minute restored Tottenham's advantage and Spurs cemented a terrific opening 45 minutes with a third goal through Hossam Ghaly eight minutes later.


Chelsea were given a wake-up call within five minutes when Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon linked up on the edge of the penalty area.The England winger slipped the ball to Dimitar Berbatov and the Spurs striker hammered a volley beyond Petr Cech for the opener.While Chelsea threatened to get back into the game, it was Spurs who remained more of a threat.They almost bagged a second when Paul Stalteri robbed Arjen Robben and set up Berbatov. However, the Bulgarian chose to cross for Defoe instead of shooting himself and the chance went begging.


Tottenham paid for the failure to take that opportunity when Lampard equalised in the 22nd minute. Tottenham were, for the first time in the game, caught out by a neat move from the English champions. Didier Drogba's cross was chested down by Andriy Shevchenko and when Michael Ballack sent the ball back towards the six-yard box, Lampard pounced to turn it past Radek Cerny.


But Spurs shocked Chelsea with a second goal a minute later when the unfortunately Essien turned a cross from Lennon past Cech and into his own net. The goal was completely against the run of play but it put the north London side back in control. The game was turning into a classic FA Cup tie and Stalteri had to clear off the line in the 32nd minute to prevent Chelsea from equalising for a second time.



Second Half:

After the break Chelsea, perhaps sensibly, opted to pile everyone forward - they did not seem to have anyone at the back anyway. A trio of chances came in quick succession but Ballack spurned two with his head and Lampard shot weakly.

And Spurs should have made them pay when Lennon burst through on goal but Cech produced a superb save to deny him and then Defoe made a mess of a free header from three yards out.

Instead, it was the visitors who were punished when a goalmouth scramble ensued after a corner and the ball broke to Lampard, who clipped the ball low into the corner.

Suddenly, a rejigged Chelsea were in the ascendancy and for the first time in the game Spurs were on the back foot. Chelsea, who had made a host of substitutions, appeared to be playing with only two defenders.

Yet the changes paid off when substitute Kalou connected sweetly after Drogba headed the ball across goal and Chelsea were level.

But then, in injury time, Defoe had a chance to give Tottenham their first win at Stamford Bridge for 17 years but his fizzing drive cannoned back off the bar.

Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira (Wright-Phillips 34), Essien, Carvalho, Ashley Cole (Kalou 64), Diarra (Boulahrouz 57), Lampard, Robben, Ballack, Drogba, Shevchenko.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Bridge.

Booked: Diarra, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Kalou.

Goals: Lampard 22, 71, Kalou 86.

Tottenham: Cerny, Stalteri, Dawson, Rocha, Young-Pyo Lee, Ghaly (Gardner 81), Tainio, Zokora, Lennon (Malbranque 76), Berbatov (Mido 66), Defoe.
Subs Not Used: Burch, Huddlestone.

Booked: Ghaly, Zokora, Young-Pyo Lee, Stalteri, Cerny.

Goals: Berbatov 5, Essien 28 og, Ghaly 36.

FA Cup, Chelsea 3-3 Tottenham goals video:

Carling Cup issues, Wenger Accuses Carling Cup Linesman Of Lying

Arsene Wenger has defended Emmanuel Adebayor following his Carling Cup final red-card and has accused the linesman of lying over the incident.

Emmanuel Adebayor is to be banned for three matches but there has been some confusion over what he was sent-off for, as it originally seemed to be a mistaken identity relating to a punch from Emmanuel Eboue on Wayne Bridge.

However, Adebayor has been accused of hitting Frank Lampard. Wenger denies this to be the case, saying: "We don't agree with the statement of the linesman. I think it's a lie.

"He comes out now and says Adebayor punched Lampard. I'd like Lampard to come out and say Adebayor punched him.
"There are players that have punched that haven't been charged."

Adebayor was furious over the red-card decision and had to be persuaded to leave the field, which may yet land him in yet more trouble with the Football Association.

For Carling Cup full coverage please click here.

Lampard agent lays down the law to Chelsea

Frank Lampard's agent believes the England midfielder has become 'indispensable' to Chelsea - and any new contract should reflect that.

Steve Kutner has admitted Lampard is aware of article 17 of Fifa's transfer regulations, under which players can unilaterally cancel their contracts after a `protected period' expires, if they pay `buy-out' compensation to their clubs, based on wages.

The three-year protection period on Lampard's current five-year deal runs out this summer, so he could theoretically leave then in exchange for two years' wages. However Kutner told The Independent that his client wants to sign a new deal at Chelsea, and that as things stand, 'he's not intending to invoke the clause [article 17]'. He added: worth to 'We know about the rule, and I've talked to Chelsea's chief executive about what Frank'sChelsea, and what he's worth to other clubs. The fact of the matter is that Frank's about as indispensable to Chelsea as anyone, not just creating goals and scoring them, but as a marketing icon. His shirt sales outstrip any other player by four to one.'