Consolation Prize

21 May 2007



Drogba’s Extra Time Goal Wins FA Cup for Chelsea

When Manchester United won the English Premiership, clouds blotted out the sun, animals went mad and crops began to fail. On Saturday, things were looking bleak in the FA Cup Final that pitted Chelsea (also known as the Forces of Light and Justice) against Man U (Satan’s team). The first half was tedious, the second inconclusive, and extra time was running down toward penalty kicks to decide things. Then, the clouds parted, the animals recovered and the crops rallied with Didier Drogba’s goal to give Chelsea a 1-0 triumph. Like Waterloo, it was a damn near thing that came right in the end.

A few weeks ago, Chelsea stood on the edge of immortality having won the League Cup, coming within a few points of Manchester United on the Premiership table, making it to the semi-finals of the Champions’ League, and winning a berth in the FA Cup Final – it was possible the club might win the four trophies in a single year. Then, the wheels came off the Premiership campaign with draws against clubs that should have been stomped. Also, Liverpool, the nemesis in Europe, beat the Londoners for the Champions’ League final spot. Roman Abramovich faced the unpleasant fact that he may has spent $500 million on talent that delivered only the League Cup.

Manchester U, of course, is a perennial favorite in any competition in which they play. They’ve got talent (Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo to name a few), and they’ve got Sir Alex Ferguson, who is the best manager the British Isles have ever produced. The chance to beat Chelsea to take the FA Cup-Premiership double made Mancunians (except for those who back Man City, which oddly is most natives of the city) salivate.

Chelsea won because they managed to keep United from playing United soccer. The first half was unwatchable, and that suited Chelsea just fine. The end-to-end play, the open field passing and the general wildness of United never happened. The game was likened to a chess match, and a bad one at that, which to be fair is, well, fair.

In the end, it was quite appropriate that Frank Lampard’s cross to Didier Drogba made the difference. Mr. Lampard is an institution at Stamford Bridge, a saint in the Chelsea pantheon. Mr. Drogba, Golden Boot winner, has had a season that may well prove to be the high tide mark in his career. And thank the soccer gods, because it was going to be a long summer explaining how it all fell apart had this gone to penalties and United had carried the day.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.


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