Didier Drogba affirmed his status as the King of Wembley on Saturday with his eighth goal in as many competitive appearances under the new arch.
Keen statisticians will have noted that the decisive effort came courtesy of his supposedly ‘weaker’ left foot, and in fact, exactly half of his Wembley goals have come in that manner.
In honour of the goal and of another fantastic moment in his Chelsea lore, we present five of the best left footed Didier Drogba strikes:
Chelsea vs Liverpool, 17th September 2006
Drogba receives a long pass on the edge of the area before turning and rifling an unstoppable effort past a helpless Jose Reina.
Stoke City vs Chelsea, 12th September 2009
Drogba latches onto an exquisite reverse pass by Frank Lampard and shoots first time on the turn into the top corner.
Chelsea vs Everton, 12th December 2009
Ricardo Carvalho wins possession back in the Everton half and feeds Lampard, who simply touches the ball towards Drogba, and the first-time finish is exemplary.
Chelsea vs Arsenal, 3rd October 2010
Of his thirteen strikes against Arsenal, a number of have been impressive left-footed strikes but few surely as impudent and deft as this backheeled effort after fine approach play by Ramires and Ashley Cole.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea, 15th April 2012
One of the strikes at Wembley, Didier dominates for strength against William Gallas and sends a quite sensational shot rocketing past Carlo Cudicini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4qtKLZJIbA
Feel free to suggest your own left-footed Drogba classics, and let’s hope there’s one more special one saved up for Munich on the 19th.