MTNFootball

Didier Drogba scored a brace to give Chelsea a 3-0 win over Valencia which saw them qualifying to the next round of the Champions League.

Ramires scored the other goal in a match where the home side controlled the game from start to finish thanks to the early goal they scored.

Drogba opened the scoring as early as the 3rd minute when he received a pass from Juan Mata inside the penalty area; the Ivorian switched the ball to his left foot and fired a low shot across goals which Diego Alves was unable to keep out despite getting a hand on the ball.

The visitors almost equalized two minutes later when left-back Jordi Alba went forward on the overlap but his powerful left-footed shot rattled the upright with Petr Cech seemingly beaten.

Valencia had another golden chance in the 10th minute but David Albelda’s long range canon was well-spotted by Cech who had to dive at full stretch to push the ball away.

Chelsea’s lead was doubled 12 minutes later in a move that started with a powerful run from Didier Drogba who then tried to find Ramires inside the box; defender Victor Ruiz could’ve cleared the ball but instead tried to block it for his goalkeeper, allowing Ramires to push it into the back of the net.

Unai Emery’s men tried to push forward in the second half in search of the goal that was going to bring them back into the match but found it difficult to penetrate the organized Chelsea defence.

The result was sealed in the 72nd minute when Juan Mata played a brilliant pass to release Drogba and the veteran striker pushed it past the goalkeeper with the outside of his boot to complete his brace.

The result sees Valencia finishing in third place in the group and the Spanish side will now compete in the Europa League.