Chelsea beat Krasnodar last night in front of a crowd of 11,000 fans – but even more unusual than the return of spectators was the presence of one observer in particular.
Roman Abramovich was there in his home country among those lucky viewers, attending his first Blues game since the summer of 2019.
After the game, manager Frank Lampard was asked whether he’d been aware that his big boss was in attendance, and he confirmed that he’d known he was there, but hadn’t had a chance to speak to him.
“I didn’t manage to see him. Before the game I was in the dressing room and a couple of my staff members spoke to him, and by the time I came out for the warm-up he wasn’t around. But I’m very pleased we put on what I thought was a good performance,” the manager explained in quotes picked up by the Evening Standard.
“Four goals and a clean sheet in his home country, so I hope we made him happy,” Lampard went on to say.
It’s always tough for coaches to impress the Chelsea owner, and Super Frank saw plenty of his own bosses sacked over the years. But this game was just what he needed on the back of a couple of good draws against Sevilla and Man United, and getting a comfortable win in front of the billionaire will have made him feel a lot more secure about his future.
Let’s hope his team can carry this good form back to the Premier League, where they face Burnley this weekend.
