FOR one minute, Macclesfield Town dared to dream. John Murphy's equaliser sent shockwaves through the footballing world just before the break.

However, less than 60 seconds later, the small fry were made to sweat when England playmaker Frank Lampard stamped his class by powering past Alan Navarro before thumping a low shot under Tommy Lee.

Then when Andriy Shevchenko was up-ended by Lee early in the second half and subsequently shown a red card, the game was as good as over.

Paul Ince was angry. "The referee ruined the game," he said. "He's a professional referee but he's not done his job. To send Tommy Lee off was a disgrace. The ball was running away from goal and to award a red card was a double punishment which effectively ended the match as a contest."

More worried about league matches to come - having already lost first-choice keeper Johnny Brain and on-loan keeper Asmir Begovic - he continued: "We will definitely appeal against the sending off, but because we're a little club I doubt it will have any joy."

He added: "For the first 15 minutes we allowed them to play but after they got their goal we got into them. But you can't make a mistake against any side, let alone Chelsea, just 40 seconds after you've scored."

Verdict

Jose Mourinho damned his opponents with the faintest of praise, dropping them down a division with a predictably patronising verdict.

"Macclesfield played with honour and passion but they are a Conference team," he said.

"As for the penalty, I don't care if he's a young boy, I don't care if it's a small team, it's the law of the game."

Macclesfield stood off Chelsea in the opening exchanges allowing a makeshift Stamford Bridge team to gain some fluency, the inevitable goal coming in the 16th minute when Solomon Kalou crossed for Shaun Wright-Phillips. The former City star trod on the ball but it luckily rebounded for Lampard to unceremoniously thump home from eight yards.

Macc then gave as good as they got and in the 40th minute they rewarded their 5000 travelling fans with a moment of magic, Matt McNeil heading on, Carvalho slipping awkwardly allowing Murphy to slide a 15-yard drive through the legs of Henrique Hilario. But then Lampard took control, scoring immediately before hammering home a spot-kick for his hat-trick.

Down to 10 men, Macclesfield then gave a spirited performance, passing the ball elegantly and never resorting to long ball or mass defence tactics. However, they could not hold out and in the 66th minute Wright-Phillips poked home a Lampard cross from close range, giving make- shift keeper David Morley no chance. Morley made one breathtaking save to deny the struggling Shevchenko but when the team was further reduced to nine men with sub John Myles leaving injured after only 10 minutes, the Cheshire club was facing a rout. Jean Obi Mikel rifled home from the edge of the box before Carvalho finished off.

Paul Ince added: "I'm just pleased that the circus is all over and that we can get back to what is important - namely, keeping this great club in the League."

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