Righteous reward for Lampard

The Chelsea FC players were naturally ebullient after Didier Drogba's added-time goal gave them a 2-2 draw against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou and left them in firm control of Group A.

Making amends
Drogba's winner was the main talking point but Chelsea could also reflect on a high-quality performance and exceptional goal from Frank Lampard as they made some amends for being knocked out by the reigning champions in last season's UEFA Champions League first knockout round. "My goal was tremendously satisfying but I have to admit that although the angle on my finish looks very daring it was actually the only option left to me because I didn't control the ball correctly the first time," Lampard admitted with a grin. "The defender was on me, I was falling back so I just tried a little clip over him and the keeper - I loved it when it went in."

Third trip
The English international, whose Catalan-born girlfriend was watching him from the stands, declared himself satisfied with the result of his side's third trip to the Camp Nou in as many years, having lost 2-1 in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League first knockout round and drawn 1-1 at the same venue last season.
"The satisfaction stems from a great result against a talented team and performing on the big occasion," he said. "However, it also comes from the fact that at half-time we were 1-0 down and none of us felt that our display merited that scoreline.

'Classic city derby'
"I believe that our performance, in total, is the epitome of what we have not managed to do over the last couple of seasons at the Camp Nou," he added. "This time we did ourselves justice and we dominated the game. Perhaps we have been just a little overawed in the past but not this time. Barcelona against Chelsea is taking on the air of a classic city derby with all the incident, atmosphere and pressure that brings. Obviously, at the moment, we are quite happy with that!"

Match suspension
The only down note for Lampard was that a first-half booking, which many had assumed was a yellow card for team-mate Ashley Cole, will rule him out of Chelsea's Matchday 5 encounter with Werder Bremen. "It turns out that I was booked without knowing it and I did think when Ashley was shown 'another' yellow card I thought he was off," he said. "I just hadn't been aware of the ref booking me and I'm a bit frustrated that I'm now out of the next match. But it was all pretty simply sorted out when the referee looked at his notes and confirmed that I'd been booked in the first incident and not Ashley"