Source: SKY_Sports
Response pleases Lampard
Frank Lampard was pleased Chelsea returned to winning ways with victory over Newcastle United at St James' Park.
The Blues' good run of form ended following a surprise 1-0 defeat to London rivals Tottenham at White Hart Lane before the international break.
However, Chelsea responded with a fine 2-0 success over The Magpies, despite the introduction of fans' favourite Alan Shearer to Newcastle's bench.
"We had no option but to bounce back from the Spurs defeat if we were to have any hope of staying in the title race and that's why it was so
important to get three points," said Lampard.
"The Spurs result was a setback but good teams bounce back from those and that's what we've done. We don't think the title race is over yet by a long margin and the other teams at the top won't think that either.
"It's still there and still available to play for. All we can do is win our games and let the rest take care of itself."
Lampard knew the presence of Shearer could have been crucial, meaning the visitors had to dominate from the off in order to keep the natives quiet.
"We didn't give them (the fans) the chance to get too excited until late in the game when they had one or two half chances," added Lampard.
Crucial opening strike"It goes without saying that the opening strike is crucial in any match but never more so than in an away fixture.
"With the atmosphere there, Newcastle would have been desperate for the first goal to get their noses in front, but in the first half we were comfortable without being at our best.
"In the second half we opened up a bit, the game opened up, we started to play more football and create more chances and I think we deserved it when the goal came.
"When it opened up I tried to get forward, create a few things and I was quite fortunate for the goal that it dropped and I was in the area.
"I just tried to make a few more things happen. We had 45 minutes when we didn't really push and we did the same against Tottenham but in the second half this time we did everything right.
"The team performance was very strong and (Florent) Malouda popped up with the second. From then on the game was very comfortable for us."
