Stoke 1 Chelsea 2:CARLO ANCELOTTI'S problems keep accumulating but, to paraphrase Tom Stoppard, every exit offers an entrance to fresh possibility.
While Fifa stated on Saturday that Chelsea will not be allowed to call back any loaned players if they lose their appeal against the two-window transfer ban, Ancelotti understands this could make his gang tighter.
And, with Porto in town tomorrow for the start of Chelsea’s Champions League quest the Italian is conscious that Uefa’s three-match ban of Didier Drogba for his verbal assault on Tom Henning Ovrebo, the Norwegian referee, after their semi-final defeat by Barcelona last season, will keep his Alpha-striker fresh for the title challenge.
“Yes. We have to accept the situation because it’s impossible for us to use Didier in the Champions League. Didier is disappointed not to play. Now he is out, but he can still help the team in the Premier League. He has the possibility to do a good job in the week against Tottenham, to help us to win,” Ancelotti said of next Sunday’s match at Stamford Bridge.
Drogba is certainly continuing the rejuvenation – he has four goals this campaign – that began once Luiz Felipe Scolari left west London in February and Guus Hiddink arrived.
The Ivory Coast international scored a fine equaliser here against a Stoke side who are hearty but short of quality. That moment was possible because of the excellent Frank Lampard’s brilliant turn and deftly geometric pass into the striker’s left channel. Drogba still had much to do. And he accomplished it with a flourish.
The Stoke captain, Abdoulaye Faye, whose opener came from a looping header over a culpable Petr Cech, was turned by Drogba. An instinctive finish followed, a sweetly vicious left-foot strike beyond Steve Simonsen.
Florent Malouda, scorer of the winner from the substitute Juliano Belletti’s long throw, is quite clear about Drogba’s status in the Chelsea dressingroom.
“Yes, he did a really good pre-season and that’s important for him,” said the France winger. “The last two years he had a few injuries and he couldn’t keep his best form. But you can see he feels really good, and he’s really focused on the goal and that’s good for the team because in a bad situation it can really help us.”
Both of the visitors’ strikes arrived deep into added time at the close of each half in a game that lasted 103 minutes.
Drogba’s came four minutes after the 45, Malouda’s three beyond the 90. And though injuries to James Beattie and Thomas Sorensen, the goalkeeper, meant there were pauses as, respectively, Ricardo Fuller and Simonsen replaced them during the first half, the eight minutes added by the referee, Mike Dean, plus the five at the end of the game, seemed generous.
Instead of employing the extra game-time as an excuse the Stoke manager, Tony Pulis, preferred to praise Chelsea. “I think it was a record for the Premier League actually, 13 minutes [in fact, Chelsea were involved in a match with 18 minutes injury time at Reading in 2006]. But whatever time the ref decides to put on, you have to defend it and work hard as a team. Chelsea kept going and we had to keep going.
“They’ve scored in the 47th minute and 93rd minute, so there you go. They keep the ball so well and work you so hard. Teams work so hard against them, to stop them from playing, and you expend so much energy that the last 10-15 minutes against these top teams are always very difficult.”
Asked to give his view of Chelsea, Pulis said: “They’ve a great chance. Their biggest problem will be in January when the African Nations Cup comes and they lose several of their players.” The loss of Michael Essien, Mikel John Obi, Salomon Kalou – who all featured against City – plus Drogba will be felt. How Chelsea deal with their absence will define how they enter the business end of the season.
