Drogba injury mars Chelsea triumph

MICHAEL OWEN’S injury-time winner for Manchester United may well have been yesterday’s iconic picture of the day but Didier Drogba being carried off during Chelsea’s impressive 3-0 victory over Tottenham could have even bigger implications for the title race.

Chelsea returned to the top of the table in ruthless and ominous style, even if they also had a little bit of help from referee Howard Webb, who turned down a strong penalty shout from Tottenham’s Robbie Keane with the score still 1-0.

But Drogba’s injury after 85 minutes could overshadow it all and Tottenham have their own problems after Ledley King and Sebastien Bassong followed suit to leave their defence decimated.

Drogba’s influence on Chelsea, however, cannot be underestimated.

He set up his side’s opener for Ashley Cole at Stamford Bridge yesterday, played a part in the second for Michael Ballack and then scored the third in a powerful performance before suddenly pulling up in pain.

His display helped the leaders set a new club record of 11 successive wins in the Premier League and added to the feeling that despite United’s derby success Chelsea are likely to be the team to beat in the title race this season.

But would Chelsea be the same without their talisman striker if scans today reveal a serious problem?

The evidence of the last year says no. Manager Carlo Ancelotti says yes. But even the Italian will have a nervous drive into Cobham this morning after the striker was rushed off for tests.

“We don’t know precisely what happened, it’s too early,” he said. “We hope it’s only cramp because it’s calf, it’s not his knee. If it’s only this it’s good for us.

“But I think it’s impossible that we would lose our confidence if Didier didn’t play. He’s a very important player for us, a fantastic player but we played without him before and I think we can play well without Didier again.

“We have (Nicolas) Anelka, we have (Salomon) Kalou, we have (Daniel) Sturridge and we have a young player like (Fabio) Borini and a very good academy.”

Ancelotti’s confidence is impressive but Drogba is a difficult player to replace and he was crucial in this victory over Tottenham who went into the match as title rivals and left suitably humbled.

In fairness Harry Redknapp’s side started the match well, taking on their opponents with a surprise 4-3-3- formation that caught Chelsea on the hop and saw Jermain Defoe force Petr Cech to save with his legs before Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas also went close.

But Chelsea, who hit the bar through Jose Bosingwa within minutes of the first whistle, grew in stature, confidence and power as the match wore on and ruthlessly dissected their rivals, unpicking their championship credentials in the process.

Michael Ballack had a convincing penalty claim turned down before Drogba powered down the right and crossed for the ever-improving Ashley Cole to send a diving header into the net after 32 minutes.

Keane’s penalty shout at the other end, when he was clearly caught by Ricardo Carvalho, was waved away by referee Webb and dominated Harry Redknapp’s post-match press conference. But in truth Chelsea were so dominant after the break that it’s hard to describe the decision as pivotal.

Far more important was an injury to key Tottenham defender Ledley King, who is unable to train because of a perennial knee problem and added to his troubles by picking up a hamstring injury in the 48th minute.

After he left, Drogba forced Carlo Cudicini into a fine save and Frank Lampard turned the rebound back for Ballack to make it 2-0. And then Drogba sealed an emphatic victory on his own after a making a fool of defender Vedran Corluka.

“Ledley going off was the turning point,” insisted Redknapp. “When he went off I knew we’d be in trouble because we couldn’t handle Drogba. He’s too strong, too powerful. At half-time I thought we could win the game but after that it was difficult.

“Ledley is that good that it makes it a difficult one for us. If he is fit he’ll always be in my team because he’s that important to us. Central defenders like John Terry are hard to come by and he’s in that class. But it concerns me that he’s going to pick up more injuries now.”

Considering Tottenham also have Michael Dawson and Jonathan Woodgate injured Chelsea can, perhaps, take some comfort that their injury problems are nowhere near as severe.

Even so, today’s medical verdict on Drogba’s calf problem could prove to be one of the most important moments of Chelsea’s season.

- Man of the match: Ashley Cole. Has completed his remarkable transformation from villain to hero over the last year with another excellent display at full-back, including a stunning goal.

- Referee: Howard Webb. Had a big, big decision to make when Keane was brought down by Carvalho and probably got it wrong. But it was a tough call and he handled the game with authority.

- Match Rating *** Plenty of attacking football and some excellently-worked goals from Chelsea. The only disappointment was Tottenham in the end were no match for their ruthless hosts.