Drogba strike gives Blues narrow advantage against Juventus
Drogba's goal gives Guus Hiddink's side a narrow lead after the first leg
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Wednesday, 25, Feb 2009 11:07
Didier Drogba scored an early goal to give Chelsea a narrow lead in their Champions League last-16 clash with Juventus following a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues did not have it all their own way and goalkeeper Petr Cech had to be alert to thwart veteran attackers Alessandro del Piero and Pavel Nedved for the Italians.
Juventus manager Claudio Ranieri was greeted warmly by the home fans as he returned to his former club.
However, once the game got under way the Blues' supporters were firmly behind their team who were dictating terms in the opening period.
Salomon Kalou forced a save from Gianluigi Buffon with a long range effort and Drogba should have done much better with a header he sent over the crossbar a few minutes later.
But the Ivorian did not have to wait long before he broke the deadlock. Kalou played in his compatriot with a pin-point pass and Drogba rifled home a shot past Buffon.
Chelsea were worthy of their lead but Juve were not put off their game plan and continued to mount serious attacks of their own.
Del Piero tested Cech with a shot on the turn which the Czech tipped around the post. The playmaker's corner almost found Giorgio Chiellini in space but he just failed to connect with the ball while in acres of space inside the Chelsea box.
Later on Drogba felt he should have been awarded a penalty when Chiellini appeared to haul him down but the referee was not interested.
Juve continued to push for an away goal to take back to Turin and were increasingly a threat in the second half.
Substitute Claudio Marchisio had two strikes on goal from the edge of the box but luckily for the Blues neither was on target.
Nicolas Anelka conjured one piece of sublime skill in an otherwise quiet match for him. He managed to fire a shot past Buffon but his attempt went inches wide of the goal.
There was still time for substitute David Trezeguet to steal in on goal with a chance to level things for Juve late on but his finis was poor and the Blues held on to take a slender lead to Italy for the second leg.