Drogba earns Clarke praise
21 Dec 2006 - 08:00:39
Chelsea matchwinner Didier Drogba took the plaudits from Blues assistant manager Steve Clarke after firing the Premiership champions into the semi-finals of the Carling Cup.
Drogba came off the subs bench to curl home a superb free-kick 11 minutes from time to give Chelsea a 1-0 win at Newcastle United and a place in the last four of the competition.
The goal was Drogba's 17th of a prolific season, leaving Clarke to say: "He's the striker in form at the moment. Everything he hits seems to go in the net.
"It's great for Didier himself because he's obviously at the top of his form, scoring a lot of goals and getting a lot of praise.
"But it is great for the club, it is good for the team and we are very pleased with his contribution.
"On current form, it is difficult to find a striker that is better than Didier, not just for his goals, but it has been mentioned before, his overall contribution to the team.
"At the end of the game when we were under a little bit of pressure for the last couple of minutes, he was back there heading balls away and fighting for the team.
"He is a great team player. He always works hard for the team and if he is not scoring goals, he is always doing something important for the team."