Lampard eyes early European progress

Frank Lampard captained Chelsea in their Champions League win over FC Nordsjaelland
3 October 2012

Frank Lampard urged Chelsea to try to seal their place in the Champions League knockout phase with two games to spare after helping them beat FC Nordsjaelland 4-0 and take control of Group E.

The European champions left it late to put their Danish counterparts to the sword in Copenhagen on Tuesday night, scoring three times in the final 11 minutes of a flattering 4-0 win, with Juan Mata netting his second goal of the match and David Luiz and Ramires chipping in with goals as well.

Back-to-back victories could cement Chelsea's qualification for the last-16. And Lampard, who returned to captain the Blues after failing to start any of the previous three matches, said: "It is important now that, our next couple of games, we try and get wins again and then we will have that foot into the next stage."

Chelsea may not have been in a position to do that had they tossed away another lead in a Champions League match, something they threatened to do at the Parken Stadium.

Roberto Di Matteo's side blew a two-goal advantage in their Group E opener against Juventus, while last season saw them score first in all of their opening four away matches but fail to win any of them.

Lampard added: "It was very important to win this considering we drew our first game. What happened last year shows how tough it is to win away.

"We didn't win away in the group stages last season but we went on to win the competition. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat."

The 34-year-old admitted the way Chelsea became "lax" on Tuesday night after Juan Mata put them ahead was a concern.

"A little bit, but I think it is always hard to dominate a Champions League game away from home from start to finish," he said.

"We played Genk last year and drew 1-1, a team not so fancied in the big picture but they can be tough games. I don't think they will give Juventus and Shakthar easy games either."

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