'Did well' - Lampard singles out two Anglo-Nigerian players for praise after defeat to Man Utd 

Chelsea interim manager Frank Lampard has admitted that he was impressed with the performance of England youth internationals of Nigerian descent Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke in his side's 4-1 loss to Manchester United in the Premier League on Thursday.

For the first time in their Chelsea careers, Chukwuemeka and Madueke, a January signing from PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, started a competitive game together, and they were on the Old Trafford pitch for 82 minutes before making way for Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Hakim Ziyech respectively.

Chukwuemeka has struggled for game time under three different managers at Chelsea and the match against Manchester United was his first start for the Blues since Lampard's second coming as Chelsea boss. 

On the other hand, Madueke has been able to force his way into the staring lineup, with four starts in his last five games in the Premier League - a reward for his fine showing at Arsenal on May 2. 

Lampard reckons that the Anglo-Nigerian duo showed their qualities despite the defeat to Manchester United.

"Carney did really well coming into midfield, he came in with a lot of personality," Lampard told Chelsea's official website. 

"It has been one of the harder parts of my job with the numbers in the squad - the balance of going with a team you feel can win games and having time to work with the younger players who you haven’t seen before.

"Normally there is the process of a pre-season and time, and you can really work and talk and train. We haven’t had that sort of time.

"Unfortunately Carney hasn’t had an opportunity from me until Thursday night but he did well and Noni [Madueke] did pretty well again."

At international level, Chukwuemeka is expected to link up with the England U20 squad after Chelsea's final game of the season against Newcastle United. 

The Young Lions reached the knockout stage of the ongoing FIFA U20 World Cup after beating Uruguay 3-2 on Thursday. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit : chelseafc.com

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