Chelsea youngster Reece James has said that manager Frank Lampard told him to ‘liven’ the game up when he was brought on at half-time of the Blues’ 4-4 draw with Ajax.
In the first half of Chelsea’s clash with the Dutch side, Tammy Abraham scored an own goal before Jorginho equalised with a penalty minutes later.
Quincy Promes then nodded in and Hakim Ziyech whipped in a ball which, in the end, was given as a Kepa Arrizabalaga own goal after the ball hit the post and his face before nestling in.
After the half-time break, Donny van de Beek made it 4-1 with a neat finish before the game got out of hand in west London.
Cesar Azpilicueta pulled one back before Daley Blind and Joel Veltman, both on yellow cards, were sent off after a foul and a hand ball in the same passage of play.
Chelsea were awarded a penalty as a result of Veltman’s hand ball and Jorginho converted before James equalised with a volley.
But Azpilicueta, who thought he’d scored the winner, had it ruled out by VAR after an Abraham hand ball.
And James, who scored his first goal for Chelsea, has spoken of the craziness of the game – and just what Lampard told him before he came on for Marcos Alonso.
“It was a crazy game!” he said.
“They were hard to break down and we took advantage of them going down to nine men, it was a shame we couldn’t win. Scoring a goal is a bonus.
“The manager told me to come on and liven the boys up, we had chances to win it but from where we were at half time it’s a good result.
“I had some mad night and some great nights, but for everything that it was, it was certainly right up there.
“Chelsea fans know the story of what we have done in the Champions League but I don’t really want to talk about that.
“For a performance like today you need personalities and characters – at 4-1 down it is easy to give it away and give it up.”