Tom Lawrence’s last minute goal earned Frank Lampard a win on his managerial debut as Derby County came from behind at Reading FC, with Chelsea loanee Mason Mount also scoring.
Wales international Lawrence, in front of the watching national team boss Ryan Giggs, brilliantly headed in Mason Bennett’s cross four minutes into stoppage time.
It completed a come-from-behind 2-1 win for the visitors, after Mount, who joined the Rams on loan from the Blues following Lampard’s arrival, cancelled out Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s opener.
Lampard will take charge of his first home game as a manager when Marcelo Bielsa and his Leeds Untied side visit Pride Park on Saturday, August 11.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Lampard said: “It’s a start for us but we have to enjoy that moment.
“It was incredible character from the lads because it was a tough game.
“We were poor in the first half and Reading made it hard for us to make passes into our attacking players. We were slow in moving the ball.
“We had to find more urgency and we did that. We got back in it with a slice of luck but we made our own luck.”
He is the manager of Championship club Derby County. He is the all-time leading goalscorer for Chelsea, where he played for 13 years, and is considered by a number of journalists and football experts to be one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, and as Chelsea’s greatest ever player by some Chelsea players.
Lampard began his career at West Ham United, for whom his father Frank Lampard Sr. had also played. He secured a place in the first team by the 1997–98 season, and the following year helped the team finish fifth in the Premier League, their highest-ever Premier League placing. In 2001, he moved to rival London club Chelsea for £11 million. In 2014, he was released by Chelsea after 13 seasons. Lampard then joined New York City on a two-year deal, in preparation for the club’s Major League Soccer(MLS) debut in 2015, but would play for Manchester City in the meantime.
However, it was later reported that Lampard was under contract to Manchester City and not New York City, as had been stated by both clubs.From his debut, Lampard was ever-present in the Chelsea first team and made 164 consecutive Premier League appearances, a record for an outfield player.
He established himself as a prolific scorer at the west London club and was a key part of the sides which won back-to-back Premier League titles in 2004–05 and 2005–06 and a domestic cup double in 2007. He signed a new contract in 2008, becoming the highest-paid Premier League footballer at that time, and scored in his first Champions League Final that year. He won a second FA Cup winners’ medal in 2009, scoring the winning goal in the final.
In the 2009–10 season, Lampard helped Chelsea secure their first league and FA Cup double, and also had his most prolific season with the club, scoring 22 league goals and 14 league assists. In 2012, Lampard captained Chelsea to their first UEFA Champions League success and a year later to their first UEFA Europa League title. He was released by the club after the 2013–14 season.
A three-time Chelsea Player of the Year, Lampard is the club’s all-time top goalscorer with 211 goals in all competitions.[20]Lampard is one of seven players, and the only midfielder, to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League. He is fourth in the Premier League’s all-time assists table, with 102 assists. In 2005, Lampard was voted FWA Footballer of the Yearand was runner-up in both the FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or.
In 2010, he received the FWA Tribute Award. He has won 13 trophies in his career.Internationally, Lampard was capped 106 times by England; he made his debut in October 1999, and played at three World Cups – in 2006, 2010 and 2014. He was voted England Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005. He played in Euro 2004 and was named in the team of the tournament after scoring three goals in four games. In all, he scored 29 international goals. He was top scorer for England in their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign with five goals, and is England’s most prolific penalty taker with nine goals.
Lampard served as a team captain on the ITV sport panel show Play to the Whistle from 2015 until 2017. He has been married to television presenter Christine Lampard (née Bleakley) since December 2015.