Lampard Defends Two Chelsea Players After Progress In FA Cup

Lampard refused to point accusing fingers at the goalkeeper for Luton’s goal in the first half, while he is confident the German striker will get back to his best

Frank Lampard stood up for Chelsea’s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and striker Timo Werner after their 3-1 win against Luton on Sunday.

Tammy Abraham’s hat-trick proved enough to win the FA Cup fourth round tie at Stamford Bridge, but the home side had their difficult moments throughout the game.

A shot from Jordan Clark squeezed past Kepa despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to to the ball as the visitors pulled a goal back at the half-hour mark, while Werner went on to miss a penalty late in the game.

On Kepa

“Well, on the flipside of that, Kepa makes a really top save in the second half to make sure it doesn’t go to 2-2. It is very easy for people to sort of hone in on that but Kepa is not playing so regularly,” he told reporters. “He comes in after training well and he is a good goalkeeper and I will certainly give him that one in the first half.

“I am as annoyed that we let someone stand in our box in space and get a shot away when we shouldn’t have done. I think it was a general team moment of complacency with how we were at 2-0 which is not good enough.

On Werner

“With Timo I’m disappointed for him. He gave a lot to the performance today. He was a threat behind, his link up with Tammy, his link up with people around him, it’s just one of those things,” he said.

“When it’s not going for you quite, it can happen. I missed penalties, I know the feeling. I know he will feel despondent, maybe now and the last few minutes of the game, but he shouldn’t be.