Didier Drogba lived up to his reputation as Chelsea’s man for the big occasion as the Ivory Coast striker’s brilliant free-kick won Saturday’s FA Cup final against Portsmouth.
Drogba has now scored seven goals in his six cup final appearances for Chelsea and none have been better than the second-half effort he curled past Portsmouth goalkeeper David James to give his side their first ever league and FA Cup double.
With Chelsea pressing for the goal their constant pressure deserved, it was Drogba who once again seized the spotlight.
He had already come close to breaking the deadlock in the first half at Wembley with an audacious long-range free-kick that James pushed onto the bar, before the ball bounced to safety off the goal-line.
That was one of a host of narrow escapes for Portsmouth as Chelsea hit the woodwork five times in the first half, with Drogba striking the post from a tight angle, but Drogba was not to be denied. In the 59th minute, he won a free-kick, sized up his angles perfectly and bent a low shot past the Portsmouth wall and beyond James’ despairing dive.
It was just reward for Drogba, who had already been crowned the Premier League’s top scorer with 29 goals this season.
“It was fantastic, we have achieved the double,” Drogba said. “We hit the woodwork five times in the first half, but we managed to concentrate and get the win ... I saw a little gap, not a big space, because the wall was in its position. I hit the post again, but it went in this time.”
Cup success has come easily for Drogba since he arrived at Chelsea.
Drogba scored in extra-time against Liverpool as Chelsea won the 2005 League Cup. Two years later, he scored in the League Cup final again as the Blues defeated Arsenal 2-1 at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. Just a few months later, Drogba settled the first FA Cup final at the rebuilt Wembley as his close-range strike earned a 1-0 win over Manchester United.
Drogba’s only taste of defeat in a cup final came in 2008 when Tottenham Hotspur were able to recover to win 2-1, but it wasn’t long before Drogba was on the winning side at Wembley again as his equalizer set Chelsea on course for victory in last year’s final against Everton.
After his histrionics against Wigan Athletic last weekend when he protested at Frank Lampard’s refusal to let him take a first-half penalty, there were no complaints from Drogba as the England midfielder stepped up for a late spot-kick.
Perhaps there should have been as Lampard shot wide, but Drogba had already guaranteed another slice of history for the Blues.
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