Drogba marks return but Hull go
toe-to-toe with leaders.
Drogba: Back among the goals
Chelsea failed to
take full advantage of their game in hand at the top of the Premier
League as Didier Drogba could only mark his return with an equaliser in a
1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Hull City.
The build-up to the match had centred on the furore surrounding
John Terry, and Steven Mouyokolo had threatened to pile further misery
on the under-fire Chelsea and England captain with a headed goal in the
30th minute.
However, Drogba, back from African Cup of Nations
action, equalised three minutes before half-time as he expertly curled a
free-kick around a shoddy Hull wall to embarrass Boaz Myhill.
The
draw allowed Chelsea to extend their lead over second-placed Manchester
United but only to two points which was far from the advantage boss
Carlo Ancelotti would have wanted.
Terry himself had been named as
Chelsea's captain for the second match, having nodded the Blues to
three points at Burnley on Saturday, since allegations of his private
life hit the headlines.
After a so-called 'super injunction' was
overturned by the High Court, widespread reports have stated that the
centre-back had an affair with the ex-girlfriend of England team-mate
Wayne Bridge, and rumours suggest that further revelations are imminent.
Debate
surrounding Terry's suitability as England skipper has therefore
increased in magnitude since the outing at Turf Moor and a meeting with
Fabio Capello regarding the subject is predicted to take place on
Thursday evening or Friday morning.
The 29-year-old, though, was a
relative passenger and seemed unaffected by constant booing when joined
in club manager Ancelotti's starting XI by Drogba and the returning
Ricardo Carvalho.
England left-back Ashley Cole was on the bench
as a precaution due to injury, while Hull showed just one change from
their 2-2 draw with Wolves as Craig Fagan replaced Bernard Mendy, with
January loan signing Amr Zaki a substitute.
Terry was greeted by
taunts from those already inside the KC Stadium when he emerged from the
dressing room to lead his side out for their pre-match warm-up and Hull
seemed intent on offering the defender a similarly difficult start to
the match.
Infamous weakness
A couple of early Stephen
Hunt set-plays, an infamous weakness of Ancelotti's side, had the
Chelsea backline under the nose of the nervous Petr Cech, but the Blues
soon found a bit of stability.
Frank Lampard unleashed a
trademark, swerving long-range effort which Myhill did well to palm but
the Hull goalkeeper was fortunate to see Nicolas Anelka surprisingly
make a hash of the rebound as the Frenchman mishit.
Hull, however,
continued to pressure their opponents while Chelsea were struggling for
rhythm as Michael Ballack, usually a reliable figure in the air, headed
a Branislav Ivanovic cross at Myhill.
Shortly after, Ivanovic's
clumsiness at the other end of the field was exposed. The Serb has had a
consistent season but he can at times look leaden footed and a trip on
Jozy Altidore earned a booking.
The resulting free-kick was headed
behind by Carvalho and from the corner Hunt demonstrated why Hull spent
the winter transfer window rejecting Wolves' advances as his perfect
delivery was headed home by Mouyokolo on the half-hour mark.
Cech
had been unable to make an attempt to claim the set-piece due to a
cunning shield from Fagan, which had doubtless been prepared to take
advantage of the goalkeeper's recent anxieties.
Jitters appeared
to be spreading to the rest of the Chelsea team as a final ball was
lacking and chants of, 'Terry, Terry what's the score?' rang around the
KC Stadium but the home fans' confidence proved misplaced.
Failure
On
42 minutes Drogba demonstrated why Ancelotti has been so keen to
welcome back his star man as, after George Boateng brought down Anelka
on the edge of the area, the striker curled a free-kick around Hull's
wall to beat Myhill at his post.
Anthony Gardner, who scored a
howler of an own goal against Wolves, wasted a glorious chance to regain
the lead for his side on the stroke of full-time as the defender headed
over the bar.
The second half began as the first had concluded,
only with a different guilty party, as Altidore wasted a headed chance
when flicking on a free-kick, which had been awarded after Terry had
been booked for bringing down the Hull man.
Hull's failure to make
the opportunity count became increasingly wasteful as the home side
found themselves on the back foot when Ivanovic and Drogba tested Myhill
before Paul McShane was booked for tugging at Ballack's shirt.
Tigers
boss Phil Brown introduced Zaki in place of the ineffective Jan
Vennegoor of Hesselink on 65 minutes, and Ancelotti responded shortly
after as Joe Cole entered at the expense of Ballack.
Chelsea were
pushing towards the closing stages but Hull were giving as good as they
got, although both teams were guilty of a wastefulness in possession.
Ancelotti
played his final gamble as he brought on Ashley Cole and Daniel
Sturridge to bring Anelka and Yuri Zhirkov's evenings to an end but the
changes made little difference.
Sturridge almost grabbed his side a
dramatic win when he hit a left-footed volley towards the Hull goal in
injury-time, however, Myhill dived low to palm away the danger and
frustrate Chelsea.