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West Ham fans arrested for racist abuse in Chelsea loss

Four visiting supporters in total were held by police. Lampard admits it was a relief to pass goal milestone.

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West Ham supporters have been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offences -during the 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The Metropolitan Police said that the two arrests were among four made on a hostile afternoon during which Frank Lampard's opening goal, the 200th of his Chelsea career, was met with a volley of missiles from the visiting supporters.

Police said on Monday that their investigation into the missile -throwing was ongoing but no arrests had been made in relation to the incidents.

As well as the two arrests for -suspected racism, one man was detained and issued with a fixed -penalty for the theft of a seat from Stamford Bridge, and another was still in custody -having been arrested for suspected affray.

The latest arrests come with police still investigating anti-semitic chants made by West Ham fans at last year's league game at Tottenham. Adolf -Hitler's name was chanted and one man was detained for making Nazi-style salutes.

The Football Association said yesterday that it would liaise with the police and both Chelsea and West Ham before taking any action against either club for the behaviour of supporters.

West Ham issued provisional banning club orders against the two individuals arrested pending the completion of the police investigation. A club spokesman stressed West Ham has a "zero tolerance" approach to racism.

The incidents marred an otherwise positive afternoon for Chelsea and a special one for Lampard, who is now just two goals short of Bobby Tambling's all-time club record.

Lampard said that he had been fretting about passing the milestone, and admitted to enjoying marking 200 against his former club, whose fans have given him relentless abuse in the 12 years since he left.

"I should have made it to 200 against Joe Hart a few weeks ago," he said. "But West Ham is a team I've got connections with and I can't lie, it did feel nice to score today.

"I've been here a long time so now I'm getting the old-boy milestones like appearances and those kind of things. The goals record is certainly something I'm proud of because I didn't think I'd get anywhere near 200 when I signed.

"It hasn't been playing on my mind these last few weeks. I try to focus. A lot of people talk to me about it which is the hard thing but I knew that if I stayed focused it would come eventually.

"If you start dwelling on these things and thinking about your personal records, it can affect your performance and maybe affect your finishing because you're tense.

"So I try to relax and I'm pleased with the goal. It was an important one for the team because it was an outstanding performance."

Lampard said that he was enjoying player in a slightly deeper role under Rafael Benitez, not least because it gave him a chance to admire the work of Eden Hazard and Juan Mata, Chelsea's outstanding performers on Sunday. "We've got Hazard, Mata and Oscar and when they see you make the run they deliver. And that's something a bit special. Hazard was amazing. The last few weeks he's been absolutely top drawer.

"I've just said to him in there that he's got absolutely everything, he's got the potential, he's 22 years of age and his ability on the ball is scaring the life out of people. When you have players playing like that, the level he's at and the level Mata's been at all season, you're going to scare teams.

"It's an absolute pleasure. I'm really, really enjoying it. These boys give us a lot of hope for the future."
 

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