Chelsea showed no signs of missing Diego Costa, who is their scorer in the league with 11 goals, as Didier Drogba rolled back the years to inspire the club in the 3-0 win over Tottenham.
Drogba has an impressive record against Tottenham in his first spell, but not many expected the 36-year-old to create the impact as he did on Wednesday night. He created the opening goal by playing a neat one-two with Eden Hazard, who finished extremely well. It was the turn of Drogba to get on the scoresheet after he outmuscled Jan Vertonghen to score just a few minutes after Hazard’s goal.
Even though the striker was clearly tired after the hour mark and had to be replaced, he left a lasting impression on the match. Jose Mourinho was clearly a major reason behind Drogba returning to Chelsea in the summer. Even though Drogba has a contract only until the summer, it is widely believed that he will be taken into the club as one of the coaching staff once he retires. Chelsea have inflicted yet another defeat of Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. They have been unbeaten at this ground against their London rivals since 1990. Mourinho has once again urged Drogba to consider retiring at Chelsea.
“He’s remarkable. You know … first of all he’s a team player. He’s a team player. After that, he’s got one of these ‘old-days’ mentalities: not selfish, not vain, a humble guy who plays and fights for the team. Fantastic. When he is on the bench and comes on for the last few minutes because the team needs someone to hold the ball up or to defend set-pieces, he does that with the same enthusiasm and spirit as he does when he starts a game against Tottenham,” said Mourinho after the win.