Two clear goal scoring opportunities

Frank Lampard reckons that his team Chelsea could so easily have ended on the wrong side of the stick on their Valencia visit yesterday.

It was a vital game for both Chelsea and Valencia in terms of their qualification for the Round of 16 in the Champions League and it turned to be a 2-2 draw which kept both the teams in the hunt.

But, whoever was watching the game would know which was the better team on the park because for most parts of the game, it was Valencia which was dominating and if they were as clinical with their finish as they were with their passing and possession, the result, most certainly, would have gone in their favor.

Not only did the hosts miss two clear goal scoring opportunities in open play, they failed to convert a penalty as well and despite missing all those opportunities, they were able to draw the game.

According to Lampard, there haven’t been too many occasions in this season where he has taken a sigh of relief after the game thinking his team was lucky to achieve the result they achieved because they have been very consistent otherwise. In this game however, they were nowhere near where they needed to be.

“Did I love the match? No I didn’t love it. Because it hasn’t been many times this season where I have had to say ‘we kind of got away with that.’ This was one of those because they missed big opportunities.” Lampard was quoted saying in the post match press conference.

Currently, three teams are in hunt for knockout qualification from Group H; that is Ajax, Valencia and Chelsea. While, Ajax just needs to avoid defeat in their last group game to qualify, Valencia and Chelsea will have to go for a clear-cut win.