Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard was delighted with his converted penalty in victory over Manchester City.

The midfielder admitted there was more relief than usual to see the ball fly into the net after a checkered recent record from 12 yards.

"I went out and missed a penalty a few weeks ago and the next one is always hard to take," he said. "You've got to be big enough and stand up and take them and they're the moments. I was very relieved when it hit the back of the net."

City's night became all the harder when Gael Clichy was dismissed for a second yellow card after the break, and Lampard felt that moment was key.

"They were down to 10 men so fair play to them, but I had a feeling that it was going to be our night and it turned out that way," he said.

"We needed to win to stay in the race. Ten points is a huge gap and luckily we've closed that."