Drogba Puts Excellence Back Into Chelsea

Chelsea relived their recent past and so started to set course for a new era. Victory came here as it had by the same score on this ground in the Champions League six months ago, but it was accomplished without the departed Jose Mourinho.

Mourning no longer intruded and Chelsea, just as they did on their previous visit to this stadium, came back to win last night after falling behind. Didier Drogba, the scorer of a fine decider, surpassed himself, but many others also rediscovered misplaced excellence.

If Chelsea have been in low spirits, here was a match to make the pulse race, even if it did so out of fear as much as anticipation. The visitors' 4-1-4-1 formation expressed a hankering for security, but the Mestalla is no place to go looking for it. Despite the numbers massed in front of them Valencia had a dancing maneuverability as well as brute pace on the flanks.

Those traits were daunting and Chelsea could have drooped after falling behind in the ninth minute, but they rallied for an equalizer. Considering how they have lacked goals of late, the speed with which they leveled must have heartened the manager, Avram Grant.

Apart from all the corrosive uncertainty about the long-term plans at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have been hampered by that most mundane of disadvantages, injury. The line-up here, though, was an ensemble on its way to recovery.

Ricardo Carvalho, in particular, was marked present. He had appeared in Chelsea's first two League games of the season, against Birmingham City and Reading, which are, coincidentally or not, the club's only consecutive victories in this campaign. The Portuguese had previously been thought to need a couple of weeks more to recover from an ankle injury, but the yearning to reinstate him was overwhelming.

Though he took his place beside John Terry, satisfaction over that was qualified by the realization that both defenders were well short of perfect condition. The Chelsea and England captain had a face mask to protect the cheekbone fractured at the weekend. There was no such convenient means for the visitors to prevent Valencia from doing damage, particularly when Quique Sánchez Flores' men got a bit lucky.

The ricochet off Michael Essien, following a tackle by Paulo Ferreira, was fortunate indeed, but there still had to be admiration for the manner in which David Villa capitalized for Valencia, bursting through to beat Petr Cech with an assured finish in the ninth minute.

That goal came in a spell when Chelsea might have been overwhelmed, yet the Premier League side were never wholly without resources of their own. Drogba's return to some sort of fitness has been a boon and he found Florent Malouda excellently in the 21st minute. The Frenchman's low cross from the left was treacherous and it was understandable that panic should ensue, and Joe Cole was on hand to put the ball into the net for the London club.

The La Liga side were far from subdued and four minutes later Ferreira was on the ground making a torrid, sliding tackle that sent the ball into the path of Villa. Over-excited, he shot rashly over the bar. Chelsea, though, had a formidable spearhead of their own in Drogba.

Total trust had been placed in him, to the detriment of an even more expensive signing. There was a show of independence from Grant in the demotion of Andriy Shevchenko to the bench - unless, of course, it was actually the owner, Roman Abramovich, who had lost faith in the Ukrainian at last.

Despite an element of satisfaction over their scheme, contentment was precarious. The pace was no longer so consistently high, but there could be searing moments. In the 56th minute, Joaquin crossed and Fernando Morientes, the former Liverpool forward, fed the ball through to Villa, but the latter was a meter offside before he fired home.

All the same, weariness compels players to be more considered and the game took on a more considered tone. That suited Chelsea and Joe Cole delivered an exquisite pass with the outside of his right. Drogba gave it the reward it deserved, surging clear past Raúl Albiol and planting the ball beyond Timo Hildebrand with impressive deliberation.

All thoughts of machinations and upheaval at Chelsea were dissolved then in joy.