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Frank Lampard urges Chelsea to improve their ability to finish off games after 'nervous' win over Sunderland
The Blues midfielder scored the winning goal in a slender victory over the Black Cats and has called on his team-mates to "kick on" as they aim to challenge for the title
15 Jan 2012 15:39:00
By Stephen Darwin
Getty Images
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has called for his team-mates to start finishing games off after a nervy 1-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday.
Lampard's goal was the difference at Stamford Bridge as Andre Villas-Boas' side tightened their grip on fourth spot in the table, although the England star insists he sensed the whole stadium was nervous as the Blues failed to find a second goal to make sure of the points.
He told Chelsea TV: "We have to fight our way through that [the nerves at the end of the game].
"We need to be better at finishing off games – even at 1-0 you need to have that confidence you’re going to keep a clean sheet and I think the whole stadium felt nervous last 20 minutes which is understandable but having got that result I think we need to kick on.
"We hadn’t won at home since Man City so we need to push on and I think our first-half form was sharper than it has been at home. We moved the ball about a lot quicker from side-to-side, we found spaces and we need to keep doing that.
"You do [need 1-0 wins]. First half I think it was a game we could have gone on an won much more comfortably – second half a little bit more the opposite last half an hour. Nerves kicked in a little bit and we hung on in there in the end."
Lampard also hailed the part Fernando Torres played in his goal - with the Spain striker smashing an effort against the bar before the 33-year-old bundled home from close range.
"It was a great strike by Fernando at the back post and I was just lingering and I tried to react and luckily enough it hit me somewhere and went back in so I was just delighted to see it go in really," he added.
"You’ve got to be in it to win it. My dad used to tell me years ago ‘get in the box and it will fall to you’, and it did."
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Lampard's goal was the difference at Stamford Bridge as Andre Villas-Boas' side tightened their grip on fourth spot in the table, although the England star insists he sensed the whole stadium was nervous as the Blues failed to find a second goal to make sure of the points.
He told Chelsea TV: "We have to fight our way through that [the nerves at the end of the game].
"We need to be better at finishing off games – even at 1-0 you need to have that confidence you’re going to keep a clean sheet and I think the whole stadium felt nervous last 20 minutes which is understandable but having got that result I think we need to kick on.
"We hadn’t won at home since Man City so we need to push on and I think our first-half form was sharper than it has been at home. We moved the ball about a lot quicker from side-to-side, we found spaces and we need to keep doing that.
"You do [need 1-0 wins]. First half I think it was a game we could have gone on an won much more comfortably – second half a little bit more the opposite last half an hour. Nerves kicked in a little bit and we hung on in there in the end."
Lampard also hailed the part Fernando Torres played in his goal - with the Spain striker smashing an effort against the bar before the 33-year-old bundled home from close range.
"It was a great strike by Fernando at the back post and I was just lingering and I tried to react and luckily enough it hit me somewhere and went back in so I was just delighted to see it go in really," he added.
"You’ve got to be in it to win it. My dad used to tell me years ago ‘get in the box and it will fall to you’, and it did."
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| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
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