Didier Drogba celebrated his return to Premier League duty with a first-half equalizer at the KC Stadium to cancel out Stephen Mouyokolo’s earlier effort on a frustrating night for Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea.
Drogba struck his 20th goal of the season on 43 minutes to haul the Premier League leaders level after Hull City defender Mouyokolo had headed Phil Brown’s Tigers into a surprise lead with his first ever goal for the top flight strugglers.
Despite Drogba coming to the rescue, however, it wasn’t enough to help Chelsea secure the win they so badly needed to restore their four point advantage over Manchester United at the top of the table.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The London club now have a lead of just two points and United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be thankful to Hull for holding his great rivals to a draw.
Ancelotti had the luxury of recalling Drogba for the first time since he departed for the Africa Cup of Nations over four weeks ago, while England internationals Joe Cole and Ashley Cole had to be content with a place on the bench.
John Terry also maintained his place in the side despite the ongoing pressure on him to resign as England captain following his off-field problems, while Deco was recalled to the starting line-up.
Brown, meanwhile, made just one change to the side that was held to a disappointing draw by Wolves last weekend, recalling Craig Fagan on the right wing in place of Bernard Mendy. The Hull manager resisted the temptation to hand a full debut to new loan signing Amr Zaki.
Hull had gone nine games without a victory and found themselves entrenched in the relegation zone. Considering Manchester City were the next visitors to the KC Stadium, then the immediate future looked bleak, but Chelsea struggled to find their rhythm from the start and seemed to make Hull’s evening easier than expected.
Frank Lampard worried Boaz Myhill inside nine minutes with a swerving drive that the Hull goalkeeper could only palm straight to Nicolas Anelka, but the French striker stubbed his shot badly wide with the goal at his mercy.
It wasn’t until the 24th minute that Chelsea threatened again, when Branislav Ivanovic sent over an perfect cross for the waiting Michael Ballack, but all the German midfielder could do was power his diving header straight at Myhill from close range.
The longer the game went on, the more Hull seemed to grow in confidence, but it still came as a surprise when they took the lead with their first real attack of the game.
Terry was nowhere to be seen as Stephen Hunt swung over a corner and Mouyokolo rose the highest to head past the helpless Petr Cech.
Hull’s lead always looked fragile, however, and it lasted just 13 minutes before Drogba leveled with a powerful free-kick into the bottom corner of Myhill’s goal.
Hull could have restored their lead on the stroke of halftime when Tom Cairney’s free-kick found the head of the unmarked Anthony Gardner, but the defender could only direct his effort over the crossbar.
Yet Chelsea always carried a threat and Myhill had to be at his best to keep the scores level with a fine double save just before the hour mark.
First he got down sharply to tip wide a skidding drive from Florent Malouda, before producing an even better stop to keep out Drogba’s downward header from Malouda’s cross as Brown’s men hung on for a point that is of much more use to them than it is to Chelsea.
In related news, Ancelotti said yesterday that he was willing to give Terry time away from the team if he needed to sort out issues regarding his private life.
Terry, a married father-of-two, is facing intense media scrutiny after a report that he allegedly had a relationship with former teammate Wayne Bridge’s ex-partner, Vanessa Perroncel.
Ancelotti said that if Terry “needs a holiday, I will give him a holiday. If he doesn’t need a holiday, then he will play against Cardiff.”
That FA Cup fifth-round match against second-tier Cardiff on Feb. 13 is seen as the most likely match Terry could miss. The Premier League leaders host third-place Arsenal in a crucial match on Sunday, with a trip to Everton the following Wednesday.
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