Chelsea boss Frank Lampard spoke of the pride he feels towards his team, despite the Blues losing the UEFA Super Cup to Liverpool after a penalty shoot-out in Istanbul tonight.
Liverpool started brightly and seemed to have the measure of a Chelsea defence that conceded four times during their Premier League opener against Manchester United last weekend.
However, Frank Lampard’s side gradually began to gain a foothold in the game and by the time Olivier Giroud slotted home on 36 minutes after being played in behind by Christian Pulisic, it was well deserved.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp turned to Roberto Firmino at the break and the Brazilian striker immediately made an impact making a nuisance of himself in the box, allowing Sadio Mane to tap home from close range.
The Reds looked energized during the second period and it took a superb double save from Chelsea ‘keeper Kepa to keep the scores level.
Chelsea did finish strongly though, with substitute Mason Mount unlucky to see a fine finish chalked off for offside, and the game headed into extra time.
Senegalese attacker Mane then hit home an expertly taken finish after a pullback from Firmino five minutes into the first half of extra time. Chelsea were not going to go quietly, however, and struck back just six minutes later via a controversial Jorginho penalty.
With the teams still tied at the end of the second half of extra time, we entered the lottery of penalties, where Chelsea youngster Tammy Abraham would be the unlucky player to miss his spot-kick and hand Liverpool their second European trophy in the space of a couple of months.
Speaking after the game Lampard spoke glowingly about his side and insisted that the Blues had been unlucky to lose.
“I’ve got nothing but pride in the team and the performance, and confidence in what that means,” Lampard told BT Sport.
“It was a tough game against a good Liverpool team that had extra time to recover after the weekend. But sometimes football comes down to little moments of luck.
“Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham added an extra dimension when they came on, and were unlucky not to score. Tammy needs to keep his head up because that’s part and parcel of being a top player.
“But people keep talking about the young players at Chelsea. Let’s talk about Jorginho and Kante, and I could name a few others. We’ve got a quality bunch in there, a really good group, and we’re working hard. I’m trying to instill the way I want to play and there were so many good things tonight.
“After Sunday, tonight was another level, and we were unlucky not to win. We’ve got three games now till the international break and we’ll try to win them all.”
Read: Top five ‘where were you’ moments in Premier League history
Read Also: Sectarianism, betrayal and a pig’s head – The most controversial transfers in football history
???????????????? The Reds and Istanbul.
Name a better duo. We'll wait.
#NBFootball #UNREAL @LFC pic.twitter.com/xAlxtO9Jjt— New Balance Football (@NBFootball) August 14, 2019
