Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard feels they defeated this season's "benchmark" in Manchester City on Monday.

Lampard came off the bench to convert the winning penalty.

"A lot is made of getting results against the big teams but we also have to win our bread and butter games, and we've left ourselves in a position where we have to win pretty much all of them to get ourselves back in the race and we can't get too excited because there is still a seven-point gap," he told chelseafc.com.

"If you don't win enough games and perform at the right times then people will criticise you, that's life. Man City are obviously beatable, nobody is unbeatable, and Chelsea need to be fighting to win leagues. We can't be fighting for fifth and sixth, that's not good enough here anymore so we need to be right up there.

"Their football between the lines and first touch was very smooth; they have a feel about them where you can see they're going to be a very strong force. They showed glimpses that they're a force to be reckoned with, and they're probably the benchmark so far, they're a class team."