Frank Lampard revealed his horror at being attacked by a Tottenham fan as he celebrated Chelsea's 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final replay win.

Lampard was savouring the triumph with his teammates in front of the Chelsea supporters at White Hart Lane on Monday when two Spurs ran onto the pitch to confront him.

One of them got close enough to throw a punch at Lampard, but he failed to make contact with the England midfielder. Stewards eventually dragged the fans away as Blues boss Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff intervened.

Lampard, who had thrown his shirt to Chelsea's fans, insisted he was within his rights to celebrate and said: "I saw the guy coming and just ducked. He should never have been on pitch. There is a lot of emotion in this game, but we should be able to celebrate with our own fans.

"It's not fair. Their fans gave us stick for the whole game and then complain when we celebrate. The feeling had built up from the first game and that showed."

Mourinho warned Tottenham's security staff that they must be more alert in future to avoid a repeat. He said: "It could have been worse. With the last whistle maybe the security slept a little bit, but they could never imagine a fast guy could jump to the pitch and chase my player.

"They just have to be alert in the future. Frank is OK. He is happy with the victory. Everything else is second."

Spurs boss Martin Jol admitted the supporters should have kept their emotions in check and said: "That is not something you like to see, but what can I do about it? I am not responsible for the safety. I can feel for their frustration, but you have to take your disappointments on the chin."

London Police confirmed that both supporters were arrested for encroachment, but the disgraceful scenes overshadowed a Chelsea victory that set up a semifinal against Blackburn next month.

Andriy Shevchenko had provided the game's decisive moment with a goal of the highest quality early in the second half.

The Ukrainian cut in from the right wing and curled a superb strike past Paul Robinson from just inside the area to break the deadlock after 55 minutes.

Spurs were rocked by that setback and Mourinho's side seized total control six minutes later. Didier Drogba chested down Ashley Cole's pass to Shaun Wright-Phillips and the winger shot powerfully past Robinson.

Robbie Keane reduced the deficit with a 79th minute penalty after Ricardo Carvalho had fouled Dimitar Berbatov, but Chelsea held on to keep their dreams of a quadruple trophy haul alive.

They have already won the League Cup and are still in the Champions League and FA Cup, as well as retaining an outside chance in the Premiership.

Mourinho believes Chelsea can make history by winning all four and he said: "It is possible. We have a 25 percent chance to win the FA Cup. We have a 12.5 percent chance to win the Champions League and to win the Premiership we need to win every game and Manchester United to lose four more points.

"We are behind in the Premiership because of the injuries we had. I almost played centre-back at times.

"We never play with our best team but when we do we show what we can do. The way we have progressed shows what this team is. The season is brilliant and we just need to win more trophies."

"This team is committed to be in the FA Cup final. The way we played we showed that. The kids played like men."

Tottenham now have only the UEFA Cup to challenge for after a season that has promised so much. They had already lost in the League Cup semifinal to Arsenal, but Jol said: "You can't say the best team has won, but what can you say when Shevchenko scores a goal like that.

"We were there in the League Cup semifinals, in the FA Cup quarterfinals and now in the UEFA Cup quarterfinals. You can say we are a nearly team but what about all the other teams who are not there."

(China Daily via AFP March 21, 2007)