BACK PAIN HITS LAMPARD AGAIN
YOU CAN have all the world class strikers you like in your team but if you cannot defend then you won’t win a thing. Right now, that is Frank Lampard’s big problem.
The strikes are flying in at the right end, as the brilliant two-goal Timo Werner showed yesterday.
But they keep going in at the other end as well – nine now in five Premier League games.
And oh dear, some of those goals they are letting in. Poor old Kepa Arrizabalaga, recalled again between the sticks, had another nightmare for Southampton’s second goal, as did Kurt Zouma. The whole Chelsea defence did.
Brilliant Werner put Chelsea 2-0 up. But
Danny Ings and Che
Adams drew Saints level. Werner set up
Kai Havertz to score Chelsea’s third but in stoppage time
Theo Walcott’s shot was diverted home by Jannick
Vestergaard to give Saints the point they deserved.
Meanwhile, for Arrizabalaga there is no hiding place. Lampard said: “He has to be strong enough to cope with the pressure. That’s part of the job. It’s a competitive world. “He made some good saves, but everybody’s eyes will be on that second goal. We did some good things today, but you can’t give away goals like that.”
Saints manager
Ralph Hasenhuttl and his team used the fact that they had a long trek at half-time back from the Chelsea health club to motivate them.
He moaned: “It is too far when you are trying to re-organise your team. Up the stairs and down the stairs. But at least we used it to motivate ourselves.
“We didn’t play well in the first period – we made it too easy for them. But we were the better team after that and we deserved this point.’’