Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho hailed the influence of Frank Lampard after the vice-captain emphatically ended his goal drought in the 3-0 win at West Ham.
Lampard scored twice against his former club to break a run of 10 Premier League games without finding the net, stretching back to the win over Hull on opening day.
Mourinho said the 35-year-old could continue to play at the top of the game for some time yet.
The Blues manager said: “Frank has nothing to prove – to the press, to the fans, to me or to himself.
“He has just to enjoy the last years of his career, try to play the maximum time he can and enjoy scoring, because goals are in his DNA.
“I was his manager in the best period of his career, probably, and now I’ve come back to enjoy with him the last period of his career.
“Sometimes players stop when nobody is expecting it. They can’t say one more year, two more years, three more years. When they feel they don’t enjoy it, they decide it’s time to stop.”
Lampard played in a more advanced role than usual, freeing him from the shackles of a holding role and allowing him to arrive late in the box with his trademark runs.
Mourinho said: “We gave him the protection of [Jon Obi] Mikel to let him go a bit more.
“He felt a bit more freedom to go and to support and to arrive into shooting areas.”
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This post was last modified on 23/11/2013