Essien strike restored Lampard's Blues belief

Frank Lampard was grateful to team-mate Michael Essien for scoring the goal that proved to be the turning point in Chelsea FC's 3-2 aggregate win against Juventus, with the leveller in Turin restoring his side's confidence.

Double boon
Chelsea started the game in Turin disappointingly and were second-best to their Italian opponents for the first half-hour, during which the Bianconeri levelled the match on aggregate through Vincenzo Iaquinta. However, Essien pounced on a rebound after Lampard's shot had come off the crossbar in first-half added time to give the visitors the double boon of an equaliser and an away goal. Lampard said: "I really thought my shot was going in but fortunately it bounced down off the bar and Michael put it in."

Slow start
He added: "The first goal was very important because we didn't play well at all in the first half. We started the game very slowly. Juventus were better than us and were much faster with the ball. The atmosphere was strong and we didn't get started for the first 30 minutes. We needed to change the rhythm and we started to improve towards the end of the first half. Then we got the goal, which was very important. Once we made it 1-1, it gave us confidence because we knew that Juventus needed to score more than one goal which would be very difficult."

Crucial contributions
For Essien it was a particularly poignant moment as it came on his first start in Chelsea colours since rupturing a cruciate ligament in early September. The Ghanaian had a dream comeback, while Didier Drogba continued to shine, levelling again for the London club after the break – his fourth goal in his last five games. "It's good to have Essien and Drogba back fit again," added Lampard. "Drogba's been fit now for the last month and he's been scoring goals. Essien came back and scored in his first game today. We're a strong group anyway but to have two players of that quality back is important."

'Important to win'
Although Alessandro Del Piero scored a penalty to offer his side renewed hope on 74 minutes, the dismissal of Giorgio Chiellini four minutes earlier for a second bookable offence proved costly. The Bianconeri rearguard folded under a late spell of Chelsea pressure and Drogba's goal seven minutes from time sealed the visitors' progress. "I think we played pretty well in the home leg and well for patches tonight," added the 30-year-old Lampard, "but this is the Champions League and when you play away it's not always important to play well, it's important to win."