Chelsea vs Leicester: Drogba Returns

CB, RB, CF - what can't he do?

After a massive win over the team voted most likely to re-visit the Championship next season, Chelsea took on the challenge of yet another promotion side this Saturday. An ideal start for the club on paper, but it was these games that by and large lost Chelsea the league last season. So it was with apprehension (and possibly some alcohol) that I crossed over to the right side of the river and headed to Stamford Bridge.

Courtouis got the call ahead of Cech once again and once again he came up with some decent saves. At his age, there’s mistakes in there to be made, but he’s currently looking like a solid option. He might want to think about accessorising as well as Cech in order to make the transition smoother for some of us (just me).

Saturday’s game wasn’t quite the walk Monday’s was as Leicester have refused in their opening games to be the meek promoted side that we all secretly hoped they’d be. After their performance against Everton, Chelsea were braced for a fight but it didn’t stop the first half from falling a bit flat.Hairdryers, straighteners or some other sort of styling implement were brought out and thrown at the players as they came out in the second half a little more prepared to score. None more likely than everyone’s favourite defender (who wanted to be a striker) Branislav Ivanovic.

Despite a top performance from our diminutive Belgian, it was Branislav Ivanovic who would have been my man of the match. Solid at the back (in part because he’s just built that way) and dangerous going forward. Just some bad luck that he didn’t get on the scoresheet himself. By and large Diego Costa’s second Chelsea goal was all Ivanovic’s.

But the moment of the day was owned by super-sub Didier Drogba. He came on to one of the best receptions I’ve ever heard and deservedly so. He looked every bit of the player he was when he headed off on his world tour. Score or not I look forward to him making himself an absolute nuisance for any defender who has the bad luck to try and mark him.

The first real test comes next week in the form of an away trip to Goodison to face 1 if not 2 former Chelsea men in their attack. A result there might just see me getting as carried away as everyone else with this season.

j x

ps ... for those of you wondering about those foam hands that did the Twitter rounds. Sorry to disappoint. Reserved only for a few lucky children in the family section