Frank Lampard has apologised after sparking a huge post-match melee at the end of his Coventry side’s draw at Southampton.
The Chelsea legend was on the receiving end of taunts by a raucous home crowd inside St Mary’s, who labelled him a ‘s*** Steven Gerrard’ at full time.
Lampard has the Sky Blues six points clear at the top of the Championship heading into Christmas and they held on for a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon despite going down to 10 men early in the second half.
Clearly delighted at his team’s performance, the Coventry boss then took to the pitch and sent a sarcastic thumbs-up gesture in the direction of the home crowd – who had reportedly been shouting at him throughout the match.
But that only served to infuriate Saints star Leo Scienza, who became embroiled in heated discussions with Lampard on the pitch – triggering dozens of players and staff to have a go at each other.
The brawl saw players and staff from both teams falling and pushing each other around for almost 30 seconds, before Lampard left the scene and walked in the direction of the away support to applaud them.
Asked about the ordeal by Sky Sports post-match, the former Chelsea and Everton boss explained: ‘I’ve got no problem with… it’s fine. I understand when a player, in front of their own fans, defends the situation.
‘But we’ve got this modern day phenomenon where the fans can say anything to you for the last 10 minutes on the line, but you’re not allowed to walk on the pitch when you’ve got emotions high.
‘Heart on sleeve, I feel a bit calmer now. I apologise for my language, and maybe that stand will apologise for their language. I’m well and truly over that one and it got a bit heated but sometimes you take that 99 minutes and you’re hanging on and seeing the players do what they do, and I feel I live it with them.
‘I went on the pitch, that’s my prerogative. I can look back and reflect on it but yeah, like I say, fans can say one thing, but we’re the ones in the arena fighting for something and we got a point.’
Lampard’s Coventry side were hit by a flu crisis before the match and managed to hold on despite Jay Dasilva receiving a straight red in the second half.
The Sky Blues are next in action when they host Swansea City on Boxing Day.
