Chelsea spirit delights Lampard in 'mad' 4-4 Ajax draw

Frank Lampard believes his Chelsea side are going places after summoning the spirit to fight back from 4-1 down to salvage a 4-4 draw against nine-man Ajax on what he described as a "mad" night at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues seemed destined for a defeat as first half own goals from Tammy Abraham and Kepa Arrizabalaga added to Quincy Promes' header and predatory finish from Donny Van der Beek handed the Dutch champions a 4-1 lead.

However, after Cesar Azpilicueta brought Chelsea back into the game at 4-2, the visitors were reduced to nine men by second yellow cards for Daley Blind and Joel Veltman in the move that led to the hosts being awarded their second penalty of the night.

Jorginho scored his second spot-kick before Reece James levelled and only VAR denied Chelsea a famous victory when Azpilicueta's strike was ruled out for a handball by Abraham.

"I had some mad nights over the years and some great nights, but it's certainly right up there," said Lampard, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in a glorious 13-year playing career.

"The spirit we showed and the character is something that I loved and I think our fans loved. We need to tighten up for sure, but with that sprit we can go places."
- Chelsea defensive lapses -
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"We are still top of this pool and it is still in our hands. When we perform like this we can justify that I am positive."
After VAR ruled out Azpilicueta's second goal, Hudson-Odoi fired inches wide and Onana made a brilliant save to deny Michy Batshuayi a winner in a frantic finale, but