With 12 minutes to go at the Etihad, Manchester City were a goal down, a man down, and with two substitutions already made, Manuel Pellegrini was playing his last card.
The Chilean was putting his trust in none other than Frank James Lampard, Chelsea’s biggest legend, to turn the tie against a club in which he had spent 13 beautiful years.
Many questions were running through the minds of the Manchester City supporters at that point. Some of them being; was frank a Blue till the end? Would he get a chance to draw City level and somehow miss the chance? Does he have it in him to do damage to a club he loved so much?
One thing was for sure; the Manchester City manager was a taking a big risk.
And then on the 85th minute, out of a supposedly none threatening situation, Milner gets a ball over the top, he hits it first time into the Box, and then someone just side footed it into the net.
In the midst of all the penalty box hoopla, a lot of people didn’t really see who the goal scorer had been… and then the big screen showed Frank Lampard and the hearts of Chelsea fans all around the world was crushed to dust.
It was like someone had written down their worst nightmare and then charged them money to see it.
Frank had just calmly strolled out, holding his hand aloft gesturing for no one to come to him… they came any way, but the Chelsea icon remained as rigid as a post.
At the sound of the final whistle, the Englishman walks over to the Chelsea crowd and applauds them; they applauded him back.
It was indeed one of the purest moments between a player and the fans a lot of people are ever likely to see.
John Terry later admits to being happy for his teammate of 13years, at the appreciation he received from the fans.
“I hope one day he can receive the same type of ovation at the Bridge.”
Lampard had been unceremoniously let go and never had the proper avenue to say good bye to the Chelsea fans.
The Englishman in his 13years at the club had won every trophy that club football had to offer except the Club World Cup.
Lamps as he was fondly called by his teammates finished his Chelsea career as the club’s all time leading scorer banging 211 goals, which was a record by a midfielder in the league. He is also second highest on the all time assist chat behind Ryan Giggs.
A three time Chelsea player of the year, Lampard is one of the seven players, and only midfielder to have scored 150 goals or more in the Premier League. He was also a runner up in both FIFA world player of the year and Ballon d’ Or.
The former West ham man is without a doubt, Chelsea’s most decorated player of any era.
During the midfielder’s formative years at West Ham, his uncle Harry Redknapp had to defend the young lad to a sea of journalist at a press conference, who questioned his ability to make it at highest level.
He was never a naturally gifted player, but worked hard on improving his technical abilities and ended up proving them all wrong.
In an interview just before the City game, Frank admitted to Journalist that he never wished to leave the Blues:
“I would have obviously stayed if Chelsea had offered me another year. There was no reason for me to leave. Yes I wanted to play a bit more regularly, but I’m not stupid. If they had given me a new contract, it would have been mad not to take it.”
Even though the 36 year old, would have jumped at a new contract, he admits that it was probably the right time to bow out.
“I also felt like I didn’t want to be a player who faded away- with that being the last memory people had of me. So maybe it was the right time… maybe it was the right that the club took I out of my hands.”
At the end of the day, the truth remains that Frank Lampard was a symbol of Chelsea’s most prosperous years ever. No matter what happens, he will remain a Chelsea Legend … no one can take that away from him … no one.
