Football

Frank Lampard blames Emerson Palmieri for Arsenal equaliser and slams his Chelsea team


Frank Lampard blamed Chelsea defender Emerson Palmieri for Gabriel Martinelli’s equaliser (Picture: Getty)

Frank Lampard blamed Chelsea defender Emerson Palmieri for allowing Gabriel Martinelli the opportunity to equalise for Arsenal in the eventful London derby at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues appeared in total control of Tuesday’s clash when Jorginho scored from the penalty spot after David Luiz was shown a straight red card for a foul on Tammy Abraham.

But Arsenal counter-attacked from a Chelsea corner after half-time and Martinelli took advantage of N’Golo Kante’s slip to race through on goal and equalise.

Rather than blame Kante, however, Lampard said the problem arose at the edge of Arsenal’s box, where Emerson lost Martinelli and Chelsea never recovered.

Martinelli sprinted past Emerson on his way to scoring (Picture: BT Sport)

‘It was on the edge of the box that was the problem,’ the Blues manager said. ‘People have got to do their jobs.

‘We have people on the edge of the box that ran forward when they should have run backwards. It left N’Golo, it went to N’Golo and he slips.

‘That wasn’t the error. That’s something that can happen. The edge of the box was the error, as I say, a job that should have been done but not done.’

Despite Martinelli’s equaliser, Chelsea restored their lead with six minutes remaining through captain Cesar Azpilicueta.

Arsenal fought back again to earn a point, however, with Hector Bellerin rounding off a fine performance with a superb finish on his first start since early December.

Lampard was critical of his team following the draw and said the defence ‘gifted’ Arsenal two goals.

Lampard slammed his Chelsea team following the draw (Picture: Getty)

‘Frustrated because you want to win,’ he added. ‘We got a goal, they went down to 10 men and we have to do better to score another goal.

‘Then we didn’t defend and gifted them two goals. That’s people not doing their jobs which they should know. Moments like that lose you points at this level.

‘We could have had three or four goals today. Having shots, crosses and lots of ‘ooh’ moments. We have to be clinical.

‘When gameday comes you have to have the killer instinct. We’ve not got that at the moment.

‘We might be a bit young and a bit of transition about us but we have to have that quality. It’s nothing on the crowd, that’s about us.’

Chelsea, who remain fourth in the Premier League, face Championship club Hull City in the FA Cup on Saturday.

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