LONDON - Frank Lampard moved one goal short of Chelsea’s all-time record as Chelsea beat a lacklustre Swansea side 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to move closer to a Champions League place.
Lampard, who came off the bench midway through the first half, converted a penalty after creating Oscar’s opener two minutes earlier.
That strike moved the former West Ham midfielder on to 201 career goals for Chelsea, with the watching Bobby Tambling’s record of 202 standing from the 1960s.
Swansea, for their part, were terrible, with Ashley Williams dreadful by his standards as the Welsh side appear on a mental summer vacation after securing European football and their top-flight status well ahead of schedule.
After a ragged start, Chelsea got into their groove after around half an hour as a goalmouth scramble saw Oscar and Demba Ba – back in for Fernando Torres after being cup-tied for the Europa League win at Basel – both have efforts blocked.
Michael Vorm made a smart stop to deny Lampard an opener, the veteran England midfielder having come on for the injured Ramires, his 400th Premier League appearance for Chelsea and 800th senior club game for all clubs.
Lampard was getting involved with regularity, putting in a corner that the returning Gary Cahill headed over before creating the Blues’ opener one minute before normal time ended in the half.
After John Terry won a header, Lampard was able to trade places with his former England team-mate before threading a superb pass to Oscar, who took one touch and smacked an unstoppable drive across Vorm and inside the bottom left.
It was a fantastic team goal with a finish to match and, with Swansea barely competitive, it was only a matter of time before Chelsea added to their lead.
Hardly any time at all, as it happened, because – barely two minutes later – Juan Mata’s skill draw a lazy foul from Leon Britton that gifted the hosts a penalty.
Chasing two records, Lampard was always going to take it. He made no mistake with a crisp low finish that ensured he joined Andy Cole as the only men to score against 38 Premier League sides in his career, and one goal short of Tambling’s Blues record, an incredible tally for a midfielder.
Reading and QPR were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday after the strugglers played out a 0-0 draw at the Madejski Stadium
A win for either Reading or QPR would have kept alive their slender chances of staying up at least until Aston Villa's clash with Sunderland on Monday.
But both looked wracked with nerves during a goalless stalemate which condemned Nigel Adkins' Reading and Harry Redknapp's QPR to starting next season in the Championship.