On the night of Didier Drogba’s return to Stamford Bridge, it was not to be his night as Chelsea won the game easily without any trouble from Drogba and co.
It took only 4 minutes for Chelsea to assert their dominance as Oscar played a lovely through ball which Eto’o latched on to and was able to dispatch past the Galatasaray Goalkeeper. The Turkish giants rarely threatened Chelsea’s half, never mind their goal and so Chelsea were able to keep the pressure on their opponents and killed the game in the 42nd minute when Gary Cahill smashed home only his 2nd goal in 15 months after Muslera was only able to palm John Terry’s header into the path of Gary Cahill.
Galatasaray’s only real chance of the first was Drogba’s freekick but he smashed it high and wide and even hit a sign with his own name on it.
With Chelsea cruising to an commanding half-time lead, all they needed to do was to hold off the Turkish giants for 45 minutes.
It was a stroll in the park for Chelsea again in the 2nd half as they were able to pin Galatasaray back into their own half for most of the 2nd half but they were not able to convert that pressure into goals.
So with Chelsea winning on the night, they have become the 1st English team this season to progress to the Quarter-Final stages of the competition, with Manchester City and Arsenal having already been knocked out and Manchester United needing a minor miracle to progress.
There were heart warming scenes at the final whistle as Drogba was cheered by all corners of the stadium. He truly did get a hero’s welcome on his return to Stamford Bridge.
The man who’s last kick of a ball for the club won them the Champions League was expected to be emotional on the night, and although he was not a his best, he is still one of the greatest players to ever play for Chelsea Football Club.
He may even return this summer when his contract is up and Mourinho has hinted at the possibility of a return of the Ivory Coast international.
Galatasaray’s performance was summed up with the words of their manager, Roberto Mancini:
“I feel sorry for our supporters because, for us, they were our best players. We did nothing on the pitch, deserved nothing.”
On the other hand, Mourinho was pleased with his side’s solid performance:
“At 2-0, it’s always alive but we played really solidly. We were much better than Galatasaray were.”
Written By Eoghan Smith
