CHELSEA completed a 2-0 win over a wretched Galatasaray side to book their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate success on a night of utter frustration for Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge. Drogba – scorer of 157 goals in 341 outings with Chelsea – was predictably the object of affection among the home supporters two years after he left the club having scored the winning penalty in a shoot-out against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final.
But Jose Mourinho’s side were not in the mood for sentimental memories as Samuel Eto’o accepted Oscar’s pass to drive the ball under Fernando Muslera for the opening goal on four minutes.
Muslera probably should have halted Eto’s effort, and the goalkeeper was again at fault when he could only palm a John Terry header into the path of Gary Cahill from Frank Lampard’s corner. England central defender Cahill gleefully hammered the loose ball into the net three minutes prior to half-time.
Roberto Mancini’s visiting side cut a shambolic lot with Drogba and/or Wesley Sneijder doing little or nothing to justify their standing in the world game, but they were not helped by a lack of desire, quality and pace elsewhere in their team three weeks after a 1-1 draw in Istanbul in the first leg.
Chelsea go into Friday’s open draw for the last eight with Mourinho remaining on course to become the first coach to win the Champions League with three different clubs having lifted the trophy with Porto in 2004 and Inter in 2010.
The first leg of the quarter-finals are scheduled for Tuesday April 1 and Wednesday April 2 with the return legs on Tuesday April 8 and Wednesday April 9.