The Sunday Times
February 17, 2008

Frank Lampard's double strike bursts Huddersfield bubble
Chelsea 3 Huddersfield 1Brian Glanville at Stamford Bridge

THERE was, almost on half-time, one coruscating moment of hope for
Huddersfield. So very much the underdog, a goal behind from the 18th
minute, largely and predictably outplayed by their hosts, they
suddenly and sensationally equalised. And a very good goal indeed it
was.

From Luke Beckett, the Huddersfield striker, the ball went on to Chris
Brandon, then out to the right flank, where James Berrett had moved.
His excellent high cross reached Michael Collins on the left of goal
and he swept the ball instantly and dramatically into the net.

If it seemed too good to last, there were still moments in the second
half, as Huddersfield's manager, Andy Ritchie emphasised when, "we
were a bit dangerous; so we annoyed them!"

They annoyed Chelsea sufficiently for the Londoners to score a couple
more goals, and twice to have goals given offside with Matthew
Glennon, the brave and defiant Huddersfield goalkeeper, blocking the
shot but unable to hold the ball.

Chelsea rested a number of first-choice players, although Jon Obi
Mikel and the impressive Salomon Kalou were back from participating in
the African Cup of Nations. So was Ghana's Michael Essien, but we did
not see him until 80 minutes had been played. We did not see the
formidable Didier Drogba at all, Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager,
telling us that he had a slight problem with his knee but none of any
other kind, suggesting he would be back for the Champions League tie
against Olympiakos on Tuesday.

Especially welcome for Chelsea was the unexpectedly early return and
the dominant form of John Terry, whom Grant kept on the field for the
whole game, but had initially planned to keep him on for just 70
minutes. Claudio Pizarro, the Peru international, was given the lone
frontman role, and he contributed in the second half with an inspired
dribble, coming in from the left to shoot.

Glennon duly blocked that one, but the ebullient young Scott Sinclair
was given offside when he put the ball in the net, as had Kalou
previously been when following up an attempt from Terry, also blocked
by Glennon. But the Chelsea captain, in the first half, had actually
been obliged to clear off his own line on 38 minutes from the
Huddersfield defender, Nathan Clarke.

Ritchie was full of praise for Frank Lampard, goalscorer yesterday as
well as substantial cre-ator: "Lampard is top notch," said Ritchie.
"His drive and his vision. He's so quick with the ball at his feet. He
moves the ball around. And that's what produces the holes in your
defence. He's always a threat and he's going to score goals."

For his part, Grant intimated that he expected Lampard to sign a new
contract for Chelsea.

Chelsea might well have gone ahead as early as the sixth minute.
Kalou, on the left, went easily past the 36-year-old Frank Sinclair,
once a Chelsea defender himself, and crossed for the other Sinclair to
beat Glennon. But Robbie Williams came to the rescue on the line.

So it was another dozen minutes before Lampard, instantly exploiting a
right-wing pass from the irrepressible Sinclair, put Chelsea ahead.
The game was moving to the interval and a Chelsea lead that might have
been greater then suddenly Huddersfield scored.

In the second half, it took 15 minutes for Chelsea to eventually
restore their lead. Kalou flicked the ball skilfully from the right to
Lampard, who duly drove home his second goal. The third came when
Kalou himself raced through the Huddersfield defence and beat Glennon
for the third time.

Yet though the game was now beyond them, Huddersfield bravely refused
to lie down and die, indeed, we were in stoppage time when Williams
fired a left-footed free kick not at all far wide of the right-hand
Chelsea post.

Haven't we met before?

Huddersfield full-back Frank Sinclair was at Chelsea for eight years
and was an FA Cup winner as the Blues beat Middlesbrough 2–0 in the
1997 final. The following season, he scored in their 2-0 League Cup
final win – again over Boro
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Mail:

Lionheart Lampard hits the ton against proud Huddersfield
Chelsea 3 Huddersfield 1


By MALCOLM FOLLEY

Frank Lampard and John Terry, the Englishmen at the heart of Chelsea,
ensured the romance of the FA Cup was restricted to a one act play at
Stamford Bridge yesterday. Huddersfield manager Andy Ritchie had the
luxury of delivering his half-time talk with his team level.

Tell the 6,000 fans who travelled from Yorkshire to London that the
potential of the Cup to weave dreams and spells is an anachronism in a
modern world.

With the last kick of the first half, Michael Collins had illustrated
control, poise and an assassin's eye to shoot Huddersfield on terms.

Those fans, embedded in The Shed end, became in an instant a loud,
boisterous choir. Their team may be living in the wrong end of League
One — indeed they began yesterday as the lowest-ranked team in the
competition — but that had not deterred them from making the journey
in a fleet of coaches, by train or by car. It was a day to travel in
hope, if not expectation.

And for 15 minutes, those fans were rewarded with Huddersfield holding
Chelsea, the club with a substitutes' bench yesterday that cost more
than £90million to recruit.

Collins' goal, taken in his stride as he expertly brought James
Berrett's pass out of the air, was a moment of some sobriety for
Chelsea. Manager Avram Grant — winner of just one domestic cup with
Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel 14 years ago — had selected a shadow team
with an eye on the week ahead.

Perhaps he was beyond criticism. After all, Chelsea play Olympiacos in
the Champions League in Athens on Tuesday, then defend the Carling Cup
against Tottenham in the all- London Wembley showpiece on Sunday.

Having spent weeks dealing with injuries to men like Terry and
Lampard, and having to compensate for the absence of other critical
players at the African Cup of Nations, such as Didier Drogba, Michael
Essien, John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou, Grant is now spoiled by an
abundance of riches.

His reaction was to include reserve keeper Carlo Cudicini, Steve
Sidwell, Tal Ben Haim, Scott Sinclair and Claudio Pizarro.

In truth, Grant might have shuffled his resources any number of ways
and still found a com-bination with enough skill, experience and
firepower to have condemned Huddersfield to an uncomfortable
afternoon. Yet, in the end, Grant was grateful for the presence of
Lampard and Terry, men assured of a starting place when Grant has to
turn his attention to creating the very best blend of Chelsea from the
personnel at his disposal.

Lampard had returned to the team just six days ago and Terry, against
imposing odds, made his comeback after two months out with a broken
foot. Their contribution was immense and meaningful. The game was 19
minutes old when Sinclair drove the ball across the Huddersfield
penalty area. As he has done countless times before, Lampard arrived
late to strike a sweet firsttime shot into the bottom corner of the
net.

Six years and nine months after Claudio Ranieri paid £11million to
take him across London from West Ham, Lampard had claimed his 100th
goal for the Blues. In his box for the first time since Christmas,
Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich broke into a grin in
celebration.

Perhaps, like his team, he assumed the job had been done because,
frankly, there was not a huge amount of urgency about Chelsea's
football.

Terry was required to clear from Chelsea's goal line in the 38th
minute after Nathan Clarke whipped in a shot following a Huddersfield
corner.

Chelsea could not claim they had not been warned and Collins,
outstanding throughout, seized Huddersfield's equaliser with a clarity
of thought. His shot beat Cudicini at the near post, allowing Ritchie
went to deliver his half-time talk with an amount of optimism.

But Lampard was to offer the Cup holders the moment of inspiration
they needed on the hour. He cut through Huddersfield with a determined
run and when his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Matthew Glennon, the
England midfielder squeezed the rebound in off the inside of a post.
Danger had passed.

Lampard's measured pass in the 69th minute invited Kalou to place the
tie out of Huddersfield's reach.
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Lampard joins the 100 club to break Huddersfield's hearts


Will Buckley at Stamford Bridge
Sunday February 17, 2008
The Observer


After all the shenanigans of the global Premier League - the gift that
no one wanted - it was a relief to return to the old-fashioned
simplicities of the Cup. It all ended as expected, but a Huddersfield
equaliser on the brink of half time ensured it remained a contest
longer than expected and gave their magnificent fans some reward on
their grand day out. 'We got fantastic backing from them,' said
manager Andy Ritchie.


Chelsea's season, meanwhile, is just about to become interesting. They
are favourites to win both the domestic cups and they have a sporting
chance in their two main targets. 'It has happened because we did a
fantastic job in December and January,' said Avram Grant.
The Huddersfield fans packed what used to be the Shed and easily
outsang their rivals. They had already had plenty of fun prior to the
kick-off as Tube nonsense meant they enjoyed their first taste of
frottage. 'It's never this packed in Huddersfield,' said one with
glee. 'Are you sure they don't charge us extra?' replied his friend.

Chelsea fielded their second team. Indeed, if you take the view that
Alex is better than Terry, and Ballack is better than Lampard, then
everyone selected was technically a reserve. Their bench, however, was
for the ages. Henrique Hilario, Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho,
Andriy Shevchenko, Nicolas Anelka. Replace Hilario with Petr Cech and
it would be unimprovable and, at a cost of a £100million or so, the
most expensive ever assembled. How long before the first heist movie
in which the so-called bad guys kidnap substitute footballers? Ocean's
18 anyone?

The first chance was beautifully crafted by Salomon Kalou, jinking in
from the left and setting up Scott Sinclair, whose sharp shot was
kicked off the line by Robbie Williams. Huddersfield forced a corner.
'Where were you when you were shit,' sang their fans and the returning
Frank Sinclair appeared to nod his assent. A trademark Frank Lampard
free-kick went straight into the wall and Steve Sidwell - who gave him
the No 9 shirt? - skied the ball over. Minutes later Lampard scored
his 100th goal for the club, Scott Sinclair's cross from the right
enabling him to sweep the ball into the net. It is a figure that
Ballack is unlikely to match.

Huddersfield tried manfully and Nathan Clarke was unfortunate to have
a volley from a corner cleared away. Then Michael Collins snuck in
behind Paulo Ferreira on the left and with the last kick of the half
calmly placed his shot past Carlo Cudicini. Against all the odds we
had a match on our hands. An emboldened Michael Collins nearly found a
way through the middle. Chelsea looked uncharacteristically vulnerable
as the fear of embarrassment crept in.

'Chelsea give us a song,' Huddersfield supporters sang from The Shed.
The natural order of things was in danger of being upset. John Terry's
shot was half-saved by Matthew Glennon and Kalou pounced on the
rebound, but he was offside. Could it be one of those games?

Well, no. Lampard stormed through the centre of the Huddersfield
defence, drew a sprawling save from Glennon and then toe-poked the
rebound in. The third goal was sublime, Mikel finding Lampard with a
switch pass and the England player swiftly feeding Kalou, who broke
quickly down the left and finished with aplomb.

Ten minutes from time Lampard left the pitch to be replaced by Michael
Essien and with Schevchenko already on we were given an indication of
how they might line up with Didier Drogba and Nicholas Anelka. That is
to say, Essien and Mikel in front of a back four, two wide men, and
the two strikers. A formidable formation.

Man of the match - Frank Lampard
The England man scored his 100th and 101st goals for the club and made
his team's third on the day. It is still uncertain with whom he plays
best, but as Chelsea progress on four fronts there will be plenty of
opportunities to resolve that.
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Indy:

Chelsea 3 Huddersfield Town 1: Lampard turns on the style to settle
Chelsea's frayed nerves

England midfielder finds his stride as Terriers bite back before faltering
Ronald Atkin at Stamford Bridge

Sunday, 17 February 2008


Though they duly headed back north empty-handed, Huddersfield, players
and supporters alike, had the traditional grand day out in London
beloved of FA Cup minnows and for a gloriously unbelievable quarter of
an hour at the start of the second half, were actually holding the
world's richest team 1-1. Then reality, in the shape of the sublime
Frank Lampard, set in and Chelsea are through to the quarter-finals,
their dream of a four-trophy season still afloat.


Lampard's form, in his second game back after missing 10 matches with
a thigh injury, was alone worth the train fare from Yorkshire. He
scored the first goal, then the second, and set up the pass for the
third.

Not content, he dominated the midfield as well as surging forward time
after time to supplement the indifferent efforts of Claudio Pizarro,
before trotting off 10 minutes from time to a standing ovation.

Chelsea, with a visit to Greece in the Champions' League on Tuesday
and the Carling Cup final next Sunday, opted to rest a host of big
names and offered a bench place for others.

Towards the end, in the space of a few minutes, the manager, Avram
Grant, brought on Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Essien and Nicolas Anelka
– £70 million worth of talent. Such was the nature of Huddersfield's
task. They tackled it bravely and lost good-naturedly to a club 56
places above their lowly position in League One.

Their equaliser, out of the blue on the stroke of half-time, was
greeted with a mix of delight and disbelief by the supporters who
filled one end of Stamford Bridge, while radio men in the media zone
were hysterical. Perhaps fortunately for Chelsea, the whistle blew for
the interval soon afterwards and they were able to retreat, regroup
and reassure themselves that they were capable of better stuff than
they had managed in the first half.

With grizzled veterans such as Frank Sinclair, captain for the day on
his return to a stadium where he played for seven seasons, and Robert
Page deputed to deny this "lesser" Chelsea, it was always going to be
a big ask.

Scott Sinclair grabbed his chance to show his stuff down the right,
while Salomon Kalou, back from African Nations Cup duty with the Ivory
Coast, kept Sinclair on the hop and Lampard just kept on driving
forward, ably backed by John Obi Mikel and that rarity among the
starters, Steve Sidwell.

Huddersfield's manager, Andy Ritchie felt, rightly, his team were "a
little in awe" of the opposition in the opening half. "Some of our
tackles could have been stronger," he said. Accordingly, Chelsea were
invited to pour forward but could manage only one goal.

It came in the 18th minute, after a spell in which Sinclair's shot
curled past Matthew Glennon but was cleared off the line by Robbie
Williams.

Sinclair's next foray ended with a square pass along the edge of the
penalty box. Lampard strode on to it, picked his spot and sidefooted
his 10th of the season and his 100th for the club. Glennon soon pulled
off a sprawling stop to deny Lampard a second before the visiting
fans, who had been lustily cheering the winning of throw-ins and
corners, were given a goal.

John Terry, out since before Christmas with a foot problem, had
already cleared Nathan Clarke's hooked shot away from the line when it
beat Carlo Cudicini as Huddersfield began to discover form and
self-belief.

Even so, it came as a surprise to most of the 41,000 crowd when James
Berrett's lofted pass was collected by Michael Collins, closing in
from the left, and driven between Cudicini and his near post. "The
goal gave us a real lift at half-time and for the first 15 minutes
afterwards we looked very dangerous," said Ritchie. "But we must have
annoyed them."

The annoyance manifested itself in Lampard's second strike of the
afternoon. Mikel and Kalou were the architects, the first sending a
fine ball forward, the second turning it into the stride of the
advancing Lampard. Glennon managed to block the shot but Lampard was
on a run, in every sense, in this Cup tie and he forced the ball home
at the second opportunity.

Kalou and Sinclair had efforts disallowed for offside before Kalou
wrapped up the win in the 70th minute. Lampard aimed a glorious ball
from the centre circle which sent him charging in to cut inside the
tiring Sinclair before scoring off Glennon's body.

Lampard, said the opposition's manager in admiration, "was top notch,
super". So he was.

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Telegraph:

Frank Lampard helps beat Huddersfield Town
By Jonathan Wilson at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea (1) 3 Huddersfield Town (1) 1

There was a quarter-hour spell just after half-time when Chelsea were
under pressure, but the truth is this was a routine victory.

Huddersfield will feel they came out of the game with credit - and
there was, at times, a pleasing zip and intelligence to their football
- but they must also know that they were comfortably outclassed.

Chelsea had dominated when, seven minutes before half-time, Phil
Jevons hooked over his shoulder as Chelsea struggled to clear a corner
and John Terry - who suffered no ill effects on his return after a
foot injury - cleared off the line.

That chance came as something of a surprise, and it was even more of a
shock when, in first-half injury time, Michael Collins stole in behind
Paulo Ferreira, gathered James Berrett's diagonal ball and clipped a
neat finish past Carlo Cudicini with the outside of his right foot.

"The goal gave us a real lift," Huddersfield manager Andy Ritchie
said. "In the first 15 minutes of the second half we were very
dangerous, but we annoyed them and they managed to take the game on."

That was largely down to Frank Lampard who, having put Chelsea ahead
with his 100th goal for the club, added a goal and an assist to ensure
their progress.

"He's a player who doesn't only know how to score goals," Chelsea
manager Avram Grant said. "He makes assists and he does defensive
work."

Grant insisted that, despite recent suggestions that Lampard could be
on his way out of the club, he was confident a new deal would be
negotiated in the summer. "I want him in the club, and I think he will
stay at Chelsea," Grant said. "I don't see any other idea."

Lampard's contract expires in summer 2009 and, under Article 17 of
Fifa's transfer regulations, he would be entitled to buy out the final
two years of the deal - albeit at a cost of roughly £8 million. He has
his critics, and it is far from clear that he and Michael Ballack can
play together in the same midfield, but his value to Chelsea was
obvious yesterday.

In his programme notes, Grant had spoken of the FA Cup as "a
competition with fantastic history and importance to the supporters",
the implication being that it matters little to anyone else. But then,
when one side so clearly have half an eye on Tuesday's Champions
League fixture against Olympiakos, perhaps that is simply expressing
the truth. To call this a second-string Chelsea would be unfair - if
only because there is no such thing any more at the Big Four clubs -
but it is safe to assume that Scott Sinclair will not be starting in
Athens.

The 18-year-old winger, who was such a significant part of Plymouth's
Cup run last season, impressed with his pace and liveliness. But for a
superb, lunging clearance from Robbie Williams, he would have given
Chelsea the lead after six minutes, as he seized on Solomon Kalou's
low cross and shaped a finish beyond Huddersfield goalkeeper Matthew
Glennon. It was then, from his 18th-minute cross, that Lampard swept
in the opener.

Lampard then laid on the third for Kalou with 20 minutes remaining.
The Ivorian had an excellent African Cup of Nations and, as though to
make the point, celebrated by running to Michael Essien as he warmed
up on the touchline and performing the kangaroo dance with which Ghana
had marked each of their goals during the tournament. Essien was
asked, in an excruciating television link up, to enact the dance for
the Ghanaian president, John Kuffour; his reaction to Kalou's mimicry,
predictably, was an embarrassed grin.

On a largely flat afternoon, there was at least some bounce.

Man of the math
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
• Back from injury and scoring again. Plus an assist source.


Telegraph View: Jonathan Wilson at Stamford Bridge
Best Moment: Just after the quarter hour, Frank Sinclair casually
stepped inside Frank Lampard. For a second, it seemed he was, once
again, the smooth sultan of Stamford Bridge. Within a minute Scott
Sinclair crossed for Lampard to put Chelsea ahead and it became
apparent that he was neither the best Frank nor the best Sinclair on
the pitch.
Worst moment: Poor Claudio Pizarro. He scrambled through five
challenges in the Huddersfield box 18 minutes into the second half
only for Matthew Glennon to make an excellent save from his falling
shot.


Match details

Chelsea: Cudicini, Ferreira, Ben-Haim, Terry, Bridge, Sidwell
(Shevchenko 75), Obi, Lampard (Essien 81), Kalou, Pizarro (Anelka 85),
Sinclair.
Subs not used: Hilario, Carvalho.
Goals: Lampard 18, 60, Kalou 70.
Huddersfield: Glennon, Sinclair, Clarke, Page, Williams, Collins,
Brandon, Holdsworth, Berrett (Schofield 85), Beckett (Booth 80),
Jevons (Kamara 73).
Subs not used: Eastwood, Mirfin.
Goals: Collins 45.
Att: 41,324
Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).