Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who’d let substitute Drogba’s shot go through his hands for Chelsea’s 70th-minute equaliser, brought down Ramires in stoppage time.

But the Brazilian then produced a fine save to deny Drogba, who took the spot-kick even though fellow substitute and regular penalty-taker Frank Lampard was on the field.

Had the penalty gone in and Chelsea won, the Blues would have gone top.

Instead they stayed fourth, level on points with Manchester United who clash with leaders Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday.

Tottenham opened the scoring in the 15th minute when the unchallenged Roman Pavlyuchenko struck from inside the box after a pass from Jermain Defoe.

Drogba, on at the start of the second half, equalised 20 minutes from time when his shot somehow found a way through Gomes’s hands to set up the game’s dramatic finale as Spurs regained fifth spot from Bolton, who beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 earlier Sunday.

“I thought we deserved to win the game, especially in the second half, we dominated,” Chelsea captain John Terry told Sky Sports after the Blues avoided a fifth defeat in nine Games.

“That’s more like the Chelsea we know.

Turning to Drogba’s penalty miss, Terry said: “It wasn’t mentioned (who would take the penalty). Didier was brave enough to stand up and take it. You score some, you miss some.”

Terry was optimistic Chelsea had turned a corner in their stuttering season, saying: “We’ve got two huge games now. We’ve got Man United at the Bridge and then we go to the Emirates (to play Arsenal).

“I’ve never doubted my players, the manager or the football club. We won the double last year, let’s not forget that.

“At the minute, nobody’s playing particularly well. Arsenal are looking good, Man United also, but no-one’s hit their top form.

“If we can do that over the Christmas period, we’ve got a very good chance.”

Source: supersport.co.za

Pic: football365.com

The Ivory Coast international, who was troubled by the groin problem during Chelsea’s Premier League and FA Cup double-winning campaign last season, successfully had “minimal invasive surgery” on Friday, the club said on their website (www.chelseafc.com) Saturday.

The 32-year-old is expected to return to full training in three weeks meaning he will miss the Aug. 8 Wembley clash with United and possibly the beginning of their league title defence at home to West Bromwich Albion on Aug. 14.

Source: sport24.co.za

The Ivory Coast forward scored both goals inside 23 minutes, and Chelsea then successfully contained Arsenal at Stamford Bridge despite the Gunners enjoying the majority of possession in the second half.

“Didier is in a good moment, he’s come back from the African Cup with fantastic motivation,” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said.

“The game was not easy because Arsenal played fantastic attacking football. We deserved to win because you can’t speak about a match only about the possession. Maybe they did have more possession than us, but football is about attack—and defense.”

For all their intricate play, the third-place Gunners lacked a cutting edge, just like last Sunday when they were dismantled by Manchester United.

“It is difficult to swallow a defeat like that when we felt we were the better team,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

Arsenal is seven points behind second-place Manchester United, which briefly returned to the top Saturday by routing Portsmouth 5-0.

“We are outsiders,” Wenger said. “But we will fight until the last day of the season. I believe everyone can drop points.”

Chelsea dropped two at relegation-threatened Hull in midweek, but bounced back against a title rival. Even the attempts by Arsenal fans to unsettle the recently sacked England captain John Terry failed as their chants were drowned out by the Chelsea faithful.

The Chelsea captain managed to evade the attention of the Arsenal defense in the eighth minute when the home side went ahead. Terry ran through unmarked to flick on Florent Malouda’s corner for Drogba at the far post to finish from close range.

“My captain has a fantastic attitude,” said Ancelotti. “His leadership is very important, he is always in control of the game and has a really strong mentality.”

Wenger, though, was furious after Chelsea’s opener, kicking his coat on the touchline and being reprimanded by the fourth official. The Frenchman became more incensed when Arsenal squandered a golden chance to level in the 17th minute. Cesc Fabregas floated a cross over Ricardo Carvalho to Andrei Arshavin, but the Russia forward’s volley was blocked by Petr Cech with his left boot.

There was a growing threat from Arsenal, but as the visitors pushed forward they left themselves exposed and were caught on the counterattack when Frank Lampard charged forward with the ball from inside his own half before slipping the ball through to Drogba.

The Ivory Coast forward cut inside and then smashed the ball past Manuel Almunia with his left foot to score his 12th goal in 10 matches against Arsenal.

Arsenal continued to have lots of possession, but Cech never looked seriously threatened. Fabregas shot wide and Gael Clichy missed the target from 30 meters (yards) before halftime.

“We didn’t get a demonstration of football (from Chelsea) but they were efficient,” Wenger said. “We had a mountain of possession and couldn’t transform it into goals.”

Drogba almost completed his hat trick late in the game but his free kick crashed against the crossbar as Chelsea extended its unbeaten home run to 24 matches, last losing at Stamford Bridge to Arsenal in Nov. 2008. Chelsea’s win would appear to have put the Premier League title out of reach for Arsenal. Wenger’s side had put themselves back in contention by clawing back an 11-point deficit after a 3-0 home loss to Chelsea in November, and even had a brief spell at the top of the standings. Now the north London club needs to beat a rejuvenated Liverpool on Wednesday to prevent the fourth-place team moving to within two points of third.

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za

Drogba had missed Chelsea’s opening three Group D games through suspension, but he was brought straight back into the starting line-up and looked to have earned Carlo Ancelotti’s side the win with two goals in the last eight minutes.

Those strikes cancelled out a stunning volley by Atletico striker Sergio Aguero in the 66th minute, but the young Argentinian had the last say as he curled home a brilliant injury-time free-kick to salvage a 2-2 draw for the hosts.

Drogba was handed the ban following his foul-mouthed confrontation with Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo at the end of May’s Champions League semi-final exit at the hands of Barcelona.

The in-form striker, who has scored nine goals in the Premier League already this season, had served his punishment though and was included tonight.

And Ancelotti was rewarded for that decision as Drogba’s brace helped ensure Chelsea will be playing Champions League football after Christmas.

It was not a comfortable night for the Premier League leaders, but they will be happy with the result and will be now be able to focus their efforts on this weekend’s showdown with Manchester United.

Chances were at a premium in the first half, which may not have been so surprising for Atletico considering they had not scored in three Group D games while Chelsea were the only team yet to concede a goal in this phase of the competition.

It was perhaps more unexpected that Chelsea found opportunities difficult to come by as not only were they facing the leakiest defence in the Primera Division this season, but Ancelotti’s men had scored 17 goals in their previous four matches.

Drogba had an early sight of goal following a terrible defensive mistake but pulled his shot wide of the far post.

That opportunity aside, it was mainly Atletico who looked the more likely scorers early on with Juanito and Diego Forlan not too far away, while former Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes brought a diving one-handed save out of Petr Cech with a curling shot from outside the area.

That was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock before the break, although Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard had efforts that might have briefly concerned Sergio Asenjo in the home goal before both went wide. Chelsea may not have been much of a threat in front of goal before the break, but they came within a whisker of taking the lead just five minutes after the re-start when Drogba struck the woodwork.

The Ivory Coast international was fouled in a dangerous position 25 yards out, and from the resulting free-kick the prolific hitman fired in a shot that Asenjo did well to turn onto his right-hand post.

Soon after that, Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores made the first change of the match, sending on highly-rated striker and one-time Chelsea target Aguero for ex-Liverpool man Florent Sinama Pongolle.

Aguero’s first involvement in the game saw him go crashing inside the area, but the referee ignored the screams of the Atletico fans to award a penalty and waved play on.

Cech had just minutes previously saved a Reyes free-kick low down by his post, but he could do nothing about the strike that put Atletico ahead in the 66th minute. An Antonio Lopez cross from the left fell kindly to the unmarked Aguero after flicking off the head of John Terry, and the Argentinian slammed an unstoppable volley into the far top corner of the net as Chelsea’s defence was finally breached in Europe.

That looked like earning Atletico their first win, but Drogba turned the game on its head with two goals in six minutes.

He drew Chelsea level in the 82nd minute when he rose highest to head home Malouda’s cross from the left, and then looked to have clinched a stunning comeback victory as he latched onto Ashley Cole’s through-ball and slotted home at the second attempt after Asenjo had saved his initial effort.

That was in the 88th minute, but there was still a late twist as Atletico netted an injury-time equaliser when Aguero curled home a brilliant free-kick from 25 yards out to seal a draw for the hosts.

Teams:

Atletico Madrid Sergio Asenjo, Perea, Pablo, Juanito,Antonio Lopez, Reyes (Maxi 72), Paulo Assuncao, Cleber Santana,Simao (Jurado 84), Sinama Pongolle (Aguero 53), Forlan.

Subs Not Used: De Gea, Raul Garcia, Ujfalusi, Dominguez.

Booked: Reyes, Paulo Assuncao.

Goals: Aguero 66, 90.

Chelsea Cech, Belletti, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole, Malouda,Essien (Ballack 59), Joe Cole (Deco 70), Lampard, Drogba,Kalou (Anelka 70).

Subs Not Used: Hilario, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Sturridge.

Booked: Essien, Terry.

Goals: Drogba 82, 88.

Att: 45,000

Ref: Bjorn Kuipers (Holland).

Source + Pic: football365.com

Drogba scored the Blues’ only goal in a 3-1 loss at the DW Stadium in which they were outplayed and outfought.

Captain John Terry said: “The least we expect from every player is that we work hard and fight – and we did not do that.”

And to underline the point, Drogba told the Evening Standard: “We didn’t play very well. We lost all the battles, all the duels. We didn’t win anything. We were poor.

“This is the worst game I have played in since I have been at Chelsea. We need to think about it, correct what was wrong and try to go again.

“We equalised just after half-time and we were trying to improve our game, but then there was the penalty and a red card, which I think was a bit harsh.

“Still with 10 players we had the chance to make it 2-2, but we didn’t do it. There was a lot of space and they used the pitch very well, they deserved to win.”

Terry earlier told The Sun: “The least we expect from every player is that we work hard and fight – and we did not do that.

“We didn’t win our headers and we didn’t win our tackles – and that’s simply not good enough.

“You can go anywhere and not play well. But when you come to places like this, you’ve got to match their work-rate.

“We didn’t do that, the whole team. That’s the most disappointing thing.

“All the other big sides had emphatic wins, so it’s even more disappointing we’ve thrown away three points.

Source: football365.com

Terry has been linked with a move to Manchester City all summer, despite Chelsea denying that that they are interested in selling their captain.

Terry played the whole match when the Blues won 2-0 over Inter Milan at the Rose Bowl in California this morning.

“He’s our captain and we need him and we know he’s going to stay with us and win more trophies,” Drogba told ESPN.

Drogba added, on facing former boss Jose Mourinho: “It’s always nice to see him, he was a big part of Chelsea’s success and now we’re moving on.

“We have a new manager now and we’re all happy for him because he won his second game out of two, so it’s all good.

“We’re working hard, this is only the start and we want to be ready for the start of the season.”

Source: soccernews.com

Goals from Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba ensured Chelsea also kept the heat on second-placed Liverpool in the Premier League.

Guus Hiddink‘s side dented Fulham’s own hopes of European football next season as West Ham and Manchester City both moved above the Cottagers in the race for seventh place.

The contest began in dramatic fashion with three goals inside the first 10 minutes.

The Blues opened the scoring inside 50 seconds.

Malouda and Anelka combined down the left before Malouda’s cross was stabbed into the path of Anelka by Drogba.

The France international finished from the edge of the six-yard box.

But Fulham hit back immediately and were level in the fifth minute.

Norwegian striker Erik Nevland scored his second goal in as many games when he ran to a great pass by Danny Murphy to beat Petr Cech with a fierce angled drive.

Two minutes later Frank Lampard was narrowly wide with a clever chip shot as Chelsea looked to restore their advantage.

But the home side were back in front in the 10th minute when Anelka fed Drogba inside the penalty area and his low cross was lashed into the net by Florent Malouda.

But Fulham were still dangerous on the counter and Nevland smashed an 18-yard volley just over the bar in the 14th minute.

Moments later a cross from Paul Konchesky found the head of Bobby Zamora but the Fulham striker’s effort was just wide of Cech’s right-hand upright.

Chelsea’s Drogba then had a goal ruled out for offside but TV replays clearly showed that the Ivorian was onside and the goal should have counted.

Drogba felt he should have earned a penalty in the 29th minute when he went down in the area under a challenge from Konchesky. But referee Alan Wiley rejected Chelsea’s appeals.

But moments later Drogba was fouled by John Pantsil only for Lampard to send the free-kick into the second tier of the Shed end.

Fulham were dealt another blow to their attack in the 35th minute when goalscorer Nevland succumbed to a knock on his knee and was replaced by Diomansy Kamara.

But Kamara proved to be full of running and won the ball off John Terry before supplying Zoltan Gera via Pantsil.

Gera’s ferocious effort was deflected for a corner by Terry, who threw his body into the path of the ball at the last minute.

Aaron Hughes saved Fulham from falling further behind seconds later when he half-blocked a shot from Lampard which then grazed the outside of the post.

Chelsea made two changes at half-time with Michael Ballack replacing Michael Essien in midfield and Branislav Ivanovic coming on for Alex in the centre of defence.

Chelsea made it 3-1 in the 53rd minute with a superb counter-attack that was finished by Drogba.

Anelka broke clear on the right flank and slipped a perfect ball into the path of the Ivorian who took one touch before slotting the ball beyond the advancing Mark Schwarzer.

Chelsea were given an injury scare in the 55th minute when Drogba collided awkwardly with Pantsil on the edge of the Fulham penalty area.

Drogba was eventually declared fit enough to carry on and play had ended when Malouda was fouled on the edge of the penalty box.

Lampard’s free-kick was tipped over the crossbar by Schwarzer and Drogba was given a rousing reception as he returned to the fray.

Fulham had now lost their shape completely and Chelsea were able to break out at will.

Drogba almost made it four in the 68th minute but he could only turn Anelka’s right-wing cross wide of the near post.

Chelsea continued to dominate and Ballack went close with a close-range header that finished on top of the net.

n the 88th minute Mikel was just wide with a 25-yard rising drive but Chelsea had done enough to run out comfortable winners.

Source: teamtalk.com