John Terry let his football do the talking as he made his first public appearance since being sacked as England captain.
Earlier, Health Minister Mike O'Brien weighed into the furore claiming manager Fabio Capello's decision to demote the player was "crass".
The Chelsea skipper's own response was to lead his team to a 2-0 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
Terry received strong support from the home crowd, with many turning out in Team Terry t-shirts, or waving banners hailing their "leader and legend".
As the game kicked off chants of "there's only one England captain" echoed around the stadium. Gunners fans replied with a rendition of "you're not captain, you're not captain, you're not captain anymore".
Mr O'Brien, MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth, threatened to add fuel to the fire earlier when he wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter: "The sacking of Terry is crass. Capello has bowed to tabloid pressure. Infidelity is bad but I saw no signs of fatigue in his football."
Asked about the Tweet, a Department of Health spokeswoman said it was a personal matter and the department had no comment.
Meanwhile Capello, in Warsaw for the Euro 2012 draw, told reporters: "I spoke with John Terry, you all know why. It was a private conversation. No other questions. I am concentrated on football and I want to speak about the draw. Nothing else."
The sacking followed a week of lurid headlines about Terry's alleged behaviour.
Allegations first surfaced a week last Friday that the 29-year-old had an extra-marital affair with lingerie model Vanessa Perroncel, the ex-partner of England team-mate Wayne Bridge.
