‘Ball boy’ Bowyer’s off day at The Valley
LEE BOWYER was left bemused following his “crazy” red card as Charlton’s celebrations of 100 years at
The Valley fell flat.
The Addicks welcomed a host of club legends including John Robinson, Darren Bent and Alan Curbishley to help commemorate this week’s centenary of their famous old ground.
But boss Bowyer was tearing his hair out as Jude Bellingham – at the age of 16 – scored a Birmingham winner for the second game running.
Then, ex-Blues midfielder Bowyer – given a rapturous reception by travelling fans – was sent off in the dying stages in the most bizarre of circumstances by ref Matthew Donohue.
“One of their staff threw a ball on to the pitch to try and waste time or whatever,” said Bowyer. “I’ve never seen that before, it was crazy.
“They just grabbed a ball from somewhere. Then the ball ended up next to me so I picked it up, tried walking to their bench and was shouting, ‘Was this your ball?’
“So I threw the ball back. The ref said it was for leaving the technical area and throwing the ball.”
Birmingham boss Pep Clotet was booked as he took the rap for his staff member’s ball-throwing.
Clotet said: “We had to suffer in the last 10 minutes but it was a very special performance.
“Jude put in a strong performance but it is possible to leave him out now – we need to protect him.” FRANK LAMPARD enjoyed the best win of his fledgling managerial career at Chelsea as his homegrown starlets wrecked Molineux’s 130th anniversary.
Tammy Abraham ran riot with a hat-trick and the win could go down as a significant milestone for Lampard as his young stars continue to come of age.
His hand has been forced by Chelsea’s transfer ban but it could yet work to their advantage as English academy graduate such as Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount seize the chance to shine.
Abraham’s impressive performance means he is now in an elite club with Dele Alli and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players aged 21 or less to score in three successive Premier League games.
The striker netted his fifth, sixth and seventh of the season after Tomori opened the scoring before Mount rounded off the win in stoppage time.
All of Chelsea’s 11 Premier League goals this term have now been scored by English players aged 21 or under. And while Lampard’s side still have defensive shortcomings, they are exciting to watch and contain plenty of firepower as they inflicted Wolves’ first home loss since January.
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