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Didier first caught the attention of the world of football during the 2003-04 season when he scored 32 goals in 55 games for Marseille. It didn't take long before other clubs began knocking at Marseille's door in pursuit to sign the striker. Chelsea, who were desperate to win the Premier League and the Champions League, brought Drogba for £24 million.
In the following eight years, Drogba scored 157 goals in 341 games and got his hands on domestic as well as European trophies. He was noted for his physical strength, ability in air and ability to hold the ball.
While many players can match Didier's goalscoring rate, hardly few can impeach the Ivorian's performances in big games. The former Chelsea striker has received the tag: "King of Wembley" because of his impeccable scoring record in later stages of FA Cup and has scored in all the 4 FA Cup finals he has played with the Blues. Furthermore, he has scored in 2 of the 3 English league cup finals.
Here are a few crucial goals he has scored in the blue shirt.
#5 VS MANCHESTER UNITED (2009-10, PREMIER LEAGUE)
On 3rd April 2010, the Blues travelled to Old Trafford to take on reigning champions Manchester United. The entire season had been a close contest between the two sides and a couple of bad results for Chelsea before the big game meant that they would sit in the 2nd position 2 points behind United.
Chelsea opened the scoring before Drogba came off the bench to double the lead from an offside position. Later, United clinched their consolation through Macheda's controversial handball goal. In a game marked by poor decisions at both ends, Chelsea found themselves on the fruitful end of the spectrum as they came back to the top of the table.
Drogba was distinctly offside nevertheless his strike led Chelsea to the title and went down as a vital goal in the club's history. Surprisingly, it was the first goal he notched up against the Red Devils in the league.
#4 VS PORTSMOUTH (2010 FA CUP FINAL)
As mentioned before, during his first spell at Chelsea, Drogba contributed a goal in every single domestic cup final that he featured in for the club. The Blues were already crowned Premier League Champions a week before they travelled to Wembley to take on Portsmouth. With 29 goals in the league, Drogba had been having the season of his life.
The FA Cup final presented Portsmouth with an opportunity to make a few amends for their 20th position finish in the premier league.
Portsmouth managed to keep the scoreline humble as the West Londoners celebrated a first FA double in their history. Chelsea struck the woodwork five times before Petr Cech saved a penalty from Kevin Boateng (then a Portsmouth player). Then, in the 59th minute, Drogba put the ball behind from a free kick and carried Chelsea to their 3rd FA Cup triumph in 4 years.
#3 VS BARCELONA (2012 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL)
Chelsea's numerous endeavours to win the Champions League had failed despite the London side being a dominant force in the European competition.
Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Ashley Cole had all entered into their thirties, Ballack, Makelele, Carvalho, Joe Cole had left Chelsea and Essien had struggled to come back from a bad injury. The squad's weakness was quite evident as they struggled to even make it to the top 4.
This Chelsea side had to overcome a formidable Barcelona side before they could play in the final. In the first leg fixture at Stamford Bridge, the Blues found themselves on the back foot for a major part of the game as Messi and co. kept launching lethal attacks. However, Drogba rose to the occasion once again and scored just before halftime to drive the Blues to a 1-0 win.
#2 VS MANCHESTER UNITED (2007, FA CUP FINAL)
Chelsea's hopes of defending the Premier League crown for the second time in three years were blown away by Manchester United in 2007. Having finished 6 points behind leaders United, Jose's men were hoping to respond vehemently in the FA Cup final against them.
Chelsea went into the fixture to avenge their Premier League defeat and United to complete the FA double. The two previous encounters between the sides in the league had ended in draws.
Spectators waited for twenty minutes before the game burst into life as Drogba made an ambitious attempt from 30 yards. Numerous attempts from both the sides to shift the scoreline to their favour ended in vain and caused the development of an anxious ambience.
The exhilarating match was advancing towards penalty shootouts before king Drogba broke the deadlock in the 116th minute. He played an exquisite one-two with Lampard and finished the ball sweetly into the back of the net.
In an interview with Rio Ferdinand, the Chelsea legend admitted that he wanted to get off the pitch as he was too tired but Jose insisted him to continue. Perhaps, even the Portuguese deserves credits for the beautiful goal.
#1 VS BAYERN MUNICH (2012, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL)
There's no doubt that Drogba's most important goal was the equaliser against Bayern in the 2012 Champions League final. The UCL was the only major trophy missing from Chelsea's cabinet and there wasn't a better way to put an end to that drought.
The Blues entered into the finals with suspensions to Terry, Ivanovic and semi-final hero Ramires. Moreover, the fact that Bayern themselves were hosting the finals made matters worse for the blues.
Much like the semi-final against Barcelona, the final also saw Chelsea absorb pressure from Bayern's attack and deny them any possible openings. Chelsea's plan of sending the tie to penalties received a massive blow in the 83rd minute when Muller headed from close range. Given how quite Chelsea had been, the jubilant Bayern fans were hardly concerned about their slender lead.
However, the joy amidst Bayern's supporters didn't last long as the almighty Didier Drogba blessed his team once again by scoring a powerful header in the 88th minute. He then scored the last penalty kick which sealed Chelsea's first Champions League triumph.
