The Sunday Times
October 21, 2007

Didier Drogba flattens Boro

Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 2

Paul Rowan at The Riverside Stadium

When one's place in the team is blocked by the England and club
captain, it is important to take any opportunity that comes along, and
Alex Rodrigo certainly did that with a vengeance when he announced
himself to the Premier League with a rocket shot from 30 yards that
capped a commanding performance from Chelsea.

Alex, who has just finished a prolonged loan spell at PSV Eindhoven
while visa and other issues were sorted out, got his chance with John
Terry having aggravated a knee injury while on international duty and
the Brazilian international sealed the game for Chelsea on 56 minutes
after Didier Drogba had given them a first-half lead, while
Middlesbrough could muster little in return.

A highly indifferent start to the league campaign for both teams meant
they had probably welcomed the two-week international break,
particularly in Middlesbrough's case.

It gave the home side a chance to get centre-forward Mido properly fit
after recent groin trouble and, for manager Gareth Southgate, time to
try to figure out a way of conjuring their first victory since early
September. He could at least take heart from an impressive recent home
run against Chelsea, having beaten them on their last two visits to
the Riverside, as a way of trying to haul themselves away from the
relegation zone.

The Chelsea back four had a highly unfamiliar look to it with Alex and
Paulo Ferreira filling in for the injured Ashley Cole and Terry.
Chelsea watchers were keen to see if coach Avram Grant would react to
Drogba's stated intention to leave the club in the wake of Jose
Mourinho's departure, but the giant Ivory Coast striker is
indispensable to the Blues - whoever is in the hot seat - and was
again cast in the role of the lone striker with Grant placing five in
midfield.

Southgate had spoken before the game of persevering with
Middlesbrough's attacking style, while bemoaning the concession of
soft goals and, after seven minutes, he was given another bad case of
the blues. While by no means the first offender even in that opening
spell, left back Andrew Taylor made a particularly poor clearance that
landed straight at the feet of Florent Malouda in plenty of space on
the left side of midfield.

Malouda moved the ball forward with urgency to Frank Lampard, who had
taken up one of his trademark attacking positions, and his first time
ball sent Drogba clear on the left hand side of goal with only Mark
Schwarzer to beat. The centre forward made light work of the angle by
drilling the ball low past the keeper with his left foot for his
second league goal of the season.

It was thoroughly deserved as Middlesbrough seemed to have no answer
to Chelsea's powerful midfield trio of Lampard, John Obi Mikel and
Michael Essien. The only joy for the home side came when they managed
on the rare occasion to get the ball out wide and they nearly
equalised from such an opportunity after 16 minutes.

Ferriera was guilty of diving in on Gary O'Neil and was left on his
backside as the midfielder raced down the right wing. His outswinging
cross was a striker's dream and Mido met it with a firm header only
for Petr Cech to make a good save diving to his left.

Jonathan Woodgate was then fortuitous to escape a booking when he
crudely chopped down Joe Cole on the right edge of the penalty area on
31 minutes. Drogba fancied his chances of beating Schwarzer on his
near post with the free kick, but struck the side netting.

It was a long time since Chelsea had had such an easy stroll down by
the Riverside and, 11 minutes into the second half, they doubled their
lead.

In typical fashion, Essien had burst through a number of challenges
before he was hauled down some 30 yards out. Lampard stood over the
ball with seemingly only one purpose in mind until he stabbed the ball
sideways and up stepped the man who PSV Eindhoven supporters had
christened the Tank.

Certainly the shot that Alex unleashed was like something that came
out of gunbarrel and the ball had crashed into the left corner of the
Middlesbrough net with Schwarzer flapping at the air.

Middlesbrough's response was no less feeble than what they had
produced before, with their midfield consistently guilty of giving the
ball away cheaply. They were nearly punished again when Malouda
latched on to a Cole cross after more sloppy defending, but his shot
was bravely blocked and Lampard couldn't keep the rebound on target.

The thousands of Middlesbrough fans filing early out of the ground
missed their side's best chance to score when Stewart Downing's cross
was completely misjudged by Ferreira, who continues to look like the
weak link in this side. Had O'Neil's first touch been better he would
have had a sitter, instead the ball moved too far away from him and,
stretching, he shot well over the bar. Middlesbrough Chelsea 2 Shots
on target (incl goals) 5 4 Shots off target 4 3 Blocked shots 4 6
Corners won 6 10 Total fouls conceded 9 1 Offsides 3 1 Yellow cards 1
0 Red cards 0 39% Possession 61%

Star man: Michael Essien (Chelsea)

Player ratings: Middlesbrough: Schwarzer 6, Young 6, Woodgate 5,
Riggott 6, Taylor 5, O'Neil 7, Boateng 5 (Cattermole 67min),
Rochemback 5, Downing 6, Mido 5, Sanli 5 (Craddock 84min)

Chelsea: Cech 7, Belletti 6, Alex 8, Carvalho 6, Ferreira 5, Cole 6,
Lampard 7, Essien 8 (Sidwell 81min), Mikel 6, Malouda 7
(Wright-Phillips 75min), Drogba 7 (Shevchenko 85min)
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Telegraph:

Chelsea's Didier Drogba getting shirty

By Jonathan Wilson at The Riverside

Middlesbrough (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 2

At the final whistle Didier Drogba ran to the travelling support,
applauded them, kissed his badge, stripped off his shirt and threw it
into the stand. The Chelsea fans responded by chanting his name, but
it will take more than such gestures of mutual respect to convince
anyone that the Ivorian forward will not follow through with the
threat he made in France Football magazine and quit the club in the
summer.

He would be badly missed. Drogba described the club as having been
"broken" by the departure of Jose Mourinho, but he certainly hasn't
been. Yesterday, on his return from suspension, he was not at his
rambunctious best, but he still took the opening goal with an elegant
efficiency, and his power and intelligent running unsettled
Middlesbrough throughout. "I think players need to speak on the pitch
and he is doing this very well," his manager, Avram Grant, said. "I
can tell you what players say to me, how they behave on and off pitch.

"When he speaks to me he's very positive and he's very positive on
pitch. He's not a problematic guy. I can tell you how I see players.

"If he was negative on the pitch or in the dressing-room or when he
spoke to me, this would be a negative thing."

Grant did, though, admit a disappointment that Drogba had voiced his
concerns by going to the press. "If someone has problems," he said,
"the only way to deal with it is to knock on my door."

Drogba's strike was a masterpiece of simplicity. From the moment,
eight minutes in, when he received the ball 20 yards inside the
Middlesbrough half, a goal seemed inevitable. There was nothing
complex about his one-two with Frank Lampard, but it was more than
enough to outwit a Middlesbrough defence that yesterday added
deference to its growing list of faults. Controlling the return ball
with his right foot, Drogba almost casually rolled the ball past Mark
Schwarzer with his left.

Just as inevitable then was Chelsea's victory. It was proficient,
leaving Grant with a respectable seven points from his first four
Premier League games in charge, but it was far from thrill-a-minute
stuff, something that can't entirely be blamed on Middlesbrough's
attacking deficiencies.

There were some neat flurries of passing after Alex had given them the
cushion of a two-goal lead 12 minutes into the second half with a
35-yard free-kick, but this was very much in the category of
professional away performance.

Given Chelsea had lost on their last two appearances at the Riverside,
there can be no real quibbles with that: job done, take the three
points, and hope Roman Abramovich does not ask too many questions.

Grant, though, is aware that winning alone is not enough. "Football is
entertainment and you need to do it in a positive way," he said. "I
feel an obligation to entertain — it's the right way in modern
football.

"You have to win games, but the way you do it is important, not like
it was before. We try to change a bit and do it my way."

That sounded suspiciously like a dig at Mourinho, but this was a win
very much from the Mourinho blueprint. The shape was back to the 4-3-3
of the Portuguese's first two seasons at the club, the style was
functional rather than flamboyant, and there was even a five-minute
run-out for Andrei Shevchenko, his ineffectual cameos now as much of
the Chelsea tradition as celery and the singing of Blue is the Colour.

Without John Terry and Ashley Cole, Chelsea, far from the impervious
barrier of two years ago anyway, were occasionally creaky at the back,
but Middlesbrough, missing Julio Arca and Jeremie Aliadiere, never
looked to have the thrust or the guile to make the most of Chelsea's
shakiness. "We didn't get out of the blocks at all," Gareth Southgate
admitted. "That's the fourth game on the bounce when conceded in the
first 10 minutes, and we looked short of confidence and belief."

They lie fourth from bottom, and could slip into the relegation zone
if Tottenham get a point at Newcastle on Monday. Drogba may have
thrown Chelsea into a panic, but Middlesbrough stand no less
precariously on the brink of crisis.

Man of the match
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
• Three shots
• Two assists
• 79 passes
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Drogba does his talking on the pitch


Duncan Castles at the Riverside
Sunday October 21, 2007
The Observer


This match proved to be ugly viewing for Middlesbrough, but further
testament to the strength of character at Chelsea. Few now contest the
damage Jose Mourinho's forced dismissal from the club did to the
Blues' dressing room, yet a team largely at odds with themselves,
their under-qualifi ed manager and their interfering owner still
possess the professional pride to dig out results like this.
Didier Drogba is a prime example. Last week he went public on his
intention to leave a club he considers 'broken' by Mourinho's exit,
admitting he even thought about ducking out of their last Champions
League tie to facilitate a January transfer. Instead, the African
played and scored, resolving to perform for himself and his
team-mates, even at a club he no longer liked.

There was another textbook finish yesterday - fast into position, calm
to beat Boro's keeper - and the game all but decided with it. Chelsea
supporters might not have enjoyed his words, but they will fi nd it
hard to question his commitment and his contribution to Boro's third
straight defeat.
'I am satisfied Didier is 100 per cent committed to Chelsea,' said
Drogba's new manager, Avram Grant. 'You judge a player not on what
they speak, you judge on what they say to me and what they do on the
pitch. You could see all the players were fully committed, including
Didier.

'I don't know what will happen in the future, but I can say this to
all the players. For me it is a great honour to belong to a club like
Chelsea. It is a great club. If someone has problems the only way to
deal with it is to knock on my door and see if we can fi nd a
solution. I don't like the other way.'

The 'other way' had seen Drogba declare 'something has broken at
Chelsea', as he sought to sign his own exit papers from the club.
Clipped around the ear on Friday and forced into a carefully worded
statement to the club website, he was still sent out to lead the
attack here. Behind him, Chelsea's defence was at least half-broken
with Ashley Cole nursing a serious ankle injury, Wayne Bridge
suspended and John Terry recovering from a knee operation. Paulo
Ferreira covered for the left backs and the oft sluggish Alex returned
to centre back alongside Ricardo Carvalho.

Boro had better injury news - Tuncay Sanli and Mido restored to a
cautious 4-1-4-1 formation - yet their start was more ragged,
conceding the opening goal on the fi rst occasion Chelsea found room
behind. Frank Lampard was the architect, his first-time, no-look pass
from midfield taking out three defenders and allowing Drogba to canter
beyond Chris Riggott. The African was the executor, controlling
quickly, opening his body, and directing the ball around Mark
Schwarzer.

With Chelsea in their old counterattacking shape, a difficult game
looked all the harder for Boro, though Mido generated some hope with a
well-saved header and a shot athletically blocked by Carvalho. Mostly,
however, Boro were scrambling - running into a forest of blue
defenders whenever they carried the ball too close to the visitors'
goal.

If a Stewart Downing set piece from deep allowed Riggott to head over,
Drogba's close-range effort spun perilously close to Schwarzer's
upright. Short of bodies up front, Middlesbrough asked Tuncay and
Downing to swap wings, yet they seemed shorter on ideas the closer
halftime came. 'It was more than disappointing,' said their manager
Gareth Southgate. 'There was no contact with them until they scored
the goal and that's the fourth game on the bounce we've conceded in
the first 10 minutes. We've given ourselves an absolute mountain to
climb.'

There was little interval innovation from Southgate - formation
unaltered, wide-men switched back again - and sparse change in
pattern. Boro won an early corner yet almost got caught on the break
by the charging Carvalho; Downing set up Mido for another saved
header. The home support claimed long and hard for a penalty-box
handball, but replays showed John Obi Mikel using his chest.

Chelsea continued to counter, and Boro to foul. Driving through two
markers to run at a third, Michael Essien collided with Fabio
Rochemback and won a free-kick when Mark Halsey rightly gave the
advantage to the attacker. Thirty-five yards from goal, Joe Cole
rolled the ball square to Alex, who struck a brutal rightfooter well
beyond Schwarzer. 'Two-nil to the referee,' sang the Boro fans as the
three points headed south.

If all appeared reminiscent of a classic Mourinho away win, Grant
thought otherwise. 'We want to play like this,' said the Israeli. 'I
think I have an obligation to entertain. We have to win games, but the
way of winning is also important. Not like it was before.'

Man of the match: Ricardo Carvalho

He was imperious in Portugal's two Euro 2008 qualifi ers last week and
the Chelsea central defender carried his marvellous form to
Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium. There are few in the English game
who can match Carvalho's tackling, blocking and reading of the game,
and there is also a thrilling ability to surge forward and create. A
master class
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Mail:

Drogba strikes positive pose to inspire Chelsea

Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 2

Whatever his future may be at Stamford Bridge, Didier Drogba remains
an important part of Chelsea's lingering hopes of regaining the
Premier League title.

Even though he claimed he has found it hard to look team-mates in the
face because of the part he believes they played in the departure of
Jose Mourinho, the club's leading scorer was still prepared to put in
a full shift on the pitch.


And there was little sign of disharmony at a club Drogba claims are
"broken" when he put them ahead as early as the eighth minute — before
being engulfed by team-mates — to set up up a comfortable victory on a
ground where Mourinho's team had regularly struggled.

Pleased though Avram Grant was with the contribution of his troubled
star, the new head coach admitted that he had no idea whether Drogba
could soon be on his way to one of his preferred destinations of
Milan, Inter, Barcelona or Madrid.

"I don't know what will happen in the future," said Grant. "It's a
great honour for the players to belong to Chelsea Football Club and if
anyone has a problem the only way to go is to knock on my door."

Grant insisted that Drogba was "not a problematic guy" and had
responded to a week of intrigue and speculation in the manner that
befits a dedicated and highly-paid professional footballer.

"Players need to speak on the pitch and he's doing it very well,"
added Grant. "He's a very positive guy on and off the pitch. And he's
100 per cent committed on the pitch. I judge players by what they say
to me and what they do on the pitch.

"Maybe he regrets what he said (in a French magazine)."

Anyone watching the lank-haired Ivory Coast striker going about his
business would not have guessed that earlier in the week he was
adamant he wanted out of Stamford Bridge to join a club where he was
"ready to break my leg to win".

He gave a typical Drogba performance, scored a goal, was always a
threat, fell theatrically to the ground and was refused treatment by
referee Mark Halsey,who dragged the apparently pole-axed figure to his
feet,and even had time for a spot of touchline handbags with Fabio
Rochemback.

By the time last season's 33-goal man made way for Andriy Shevchenko
five minutes from time, Chelsea were strolling to the kind of victory
they rarely experience at the Riverside, having lost here in the past
two seasons.

The significance of Drogba's goal could not be underestimated.Chelsea
needed to settle quickly and had to knock the confidence out of a
Middlesbrough side who, having lost their previous two league matches,
were in desperate need of some positive encouragement.

So when Frank Lampard slipped a neat pass through the Boro defence,
Drogba's composure in sliding his shot beyond Mark Schwarzer set the
tone for the afternoon.

The goal was a timely lift for Lampard after the midfield man's
exclusion from England's starting lineup in the past two matches and
he went on to give a neat,purposeful performance in a dominant team
display.

Despite Grant's insistence that Chelsea have an obligation to
entertain as well as win — "not like before" — the game was largely a
dull affair, punctuated by rare moments of excitement.

Middlesbrough, who struggled to prevent Chelsea toying with them for
long periods, might have snatched an unexpected equaliser when Petr
Cech showed sharp reflexes to keep out Mido's close-range header from
Gary O'Neil's cross. Drogba curled a free-kick wide and Mido headed a
cross from Stewart Downing straight at Cech but only when Alex
thrashed in a 35-yard shot into the top corner from Lampard's tapped
free-kick in the 57th minute was there anything to become genuinely
excited about.

As Alex was deputising for the injured John Terry, the Brazilian was
another player entitled to be pleased with his afternoon's efforts.

The England captain may be a combative and influential defender but he
is not known for his longrange goals.

So, as Gareth Southgate insisted his relegation-threatened side will
improve to drag themselves to safety — and they certainly need to —
the Chelsea soap opera lurches towards its next drama.

Southgate said: "Against a team with their quality you can't concede
early and that's the problem. When you have a spell like this you need
to stick together."

But for Chelsea, after all the apparent unrest of the the past week,
there was no more damage suffered here.
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Indy:

Middlesbrough 0 Chelsea 2: Drogba positively proves his worth
Southgate's fragile Middlesbrough side face long struggle
By Michael Walkerat the Riverside


There was a chant of "Chelsea are back" here yesterday, and if that
overstates what has gone on at Stamford Bridge these past few weeks,
you could understand the underlying sentiment. In Henk Ten Cate's
first game as assistant manager, Chelsea won with comfort and style at
a ground where they lost last season and the one before that.

Didier Drogba is back too. He may not have gone away, and may have no
intention to – who knows, given the way he blows? – but his cool
eighth-minute goal settled any nerves Chelsea may have felt about
their return to Teesside, particularly without John Terry and Ashley
Cole. At the end, Drogba ran to the Chelsea following and kissed his
shirt before throwing it to them.

It was a predictably flowery gesture but Drogba's new manager, Avram
Grant, appreciated his centre-forward's efforts. "He is not a
problematic guy," Grant said of Drogba. "A player speaks on the pitch.
When he speaks with me he's very positive.

"I didn't see one player who wasn't 100 per cent committed. You saw
full commitment today, especially from Didier."

Admittedly against a fragile Middlesbrough who have one point from
their last 15 and who do not look too good enough to avoid a struggle
of a season, Chelsea were untroubled for large sections of a
surprisingly quiet affair.

But, also quietly, Chelsea are beginning to flow; this was a third
consecutive away win, and Grant pointed out that five of his six
matches in charge have been away from home. Manchester City now visit
west London next Saturday, and that will be a test of the team's
stability and their improved rhythm.

"It was very important to win," said Grant, "especially as we lost
here in the last two years. Second, our game is getting better, more
quality."

There then followed a gentle dig at the previous management of Jose
Mourinho: "Of course you have to win games but the way you win is
important, not like it was before. Today football is about
entertainment. I have an obligation, this is the right way."

Chelsea were far from exhilarating – they did not need to be – but the
victory was sealed with a blockbuster of a second goal. It came from
Alex, preferred to Tal Ben Haim at centre-half, 12 minutes into the
second half: a magnificent, smooth, rising 35-yard strike that soared
beyond the blameless Mark Schwarzer.

There were 33 minutes remaining yet Middlesbrough did not produce one
shot on target. "Very flat," was their manager Gareth Southgate's
assessment, "and at home that's more than disappointing.

"We didn't get out of the blocks at all - that's the fourth game in a
row where we've conceded in the first 10 minutes."

Until Chelsea scored, and during the move to the goal, Middlesbrough
barely had a kick. They were yards off the pace, and the difference in
confidence and class was illustrated by the ease of Drogba's
give-and-go with Frank Lampard. Chris Riggott was removed from the
game by that and Drogba was then one on one with Schwarzer. With a
shuffle of his blue boots Drogbamanoeuvred the ball from under his
feet to slide it slowly past the advancing Australian.

It was all too easy from Chelsea's perspective. Only Gary O'Neil,
asked to float behind Mido, was offering anything like the required
resistance from Middlesbrough, and when he moved out to the right wing
in the 17th minute he showed the others the sort of urgency that was
needed.

Skipping by Paulo Ferreira, O'Neil delivered an excellent fast cross.
Mido, no doubt welcoming some sort of supply, got a useful flicked
header in but Petr Cech reacted with typical agility to palm the ball
away. The action brought some belated applause from the home support –
though again there were swathes of empty red seats at the Riverside.

A couple of minutes into the second half Mido rose again to meet a
cross, this time from Stewart Downing, but Cech was in the right place
again and once Alex had intervened so spectacularly, the contest ebbed
away.

It is a phrase which may apply to an already anxious Middlesbrough.
For them it is a trip to Manchester United next.
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