Branislav Ivanovic's extra-time goal gave Chelsea a dramatic 5-4 aggregate victory over Napoli and sent them through to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. That meant extra time and, right at the end of the first period, Ivanovic found himself free 10 yards out to blast home Drogba's low cross to secure Chelsea's
place in the last eight.
If this is the result of player power then maybe caretaker manager Di Matteo - who was jumping for joy at the final whistle - should just let his veterans do it their way. Gokhan Inler's spectacular half-volley wrenched the game back into Napoli's
hands once more before Frank Lampard's penalty levelled the thrilling tie on aggregate. Drogba, Terry and Lampard - the men the sacked Andre Villas-Boas seemed so determined to discard - proved just how difficult they would be to replace with a goal apiece in this victory.
Stamford Bridge was full of flag-waving believers before kick-off, with both sets of fans creating a noise akin to that during Napoli's 3-1 win in Italy three weeks earlier. Their much-vaunted attacking trio all threatened, Marek Hamsik first to go close when his deflected shot from Ezequiel Lavezzi's pass almost wrong-footed Petr Cech.
Edinson Cavani curled over before missing a great chance when he steered Hamsik's low cross into the side-netting. But despite Daniel Sturridge raising Chelsea hopes when his first-time shot from Drogba's knockdown forced a fine Morgan De Sanctis save, Napoli were almost embarrassingly superior in the opening quarter.Lavezzi beat the offside trap to blast at the feet of Cech, who then palmed away a Hamsik shot. Juan Mata had the ball in the net at the other end after Sturridge was flagged offside and that seemed to galvanise Chelsea, who took the lead completely against the run of play in the 29th minute. The ball was worked to makeshift left-winger Ramires, whose right-footed cross saw Drogba get in front of Salvatore Aronica to power a header into the net. Forced forward, it was Napoli's turn to provoke some shaky defending and they were back ahead in the tie in spectacular fashion in the 55th minute.
From the resulting corner, the visitors launched a lightning break, Cavani wasting what had been a three on two when he dragged wide. Napoli were reeling and Hugo Campagnaro got a vital touch to prevent Drogba tapping home Sturridge's cross two minutes later. Christian Maggio limped off eight minutes before half-time to be replaced by former Liverpool full-back Andrea Dossena and Chelsea finished the first half on top, with Aronica and Paolo Cannavaro both making desperate clearances.
Inler controlled Terry's headed clearance on his chest before unleashing a superb half-volley into the bottom corner. Napoli's nerves cost them dearly straight after the restart when Campagnaro was spooked into conceding a corner and Terry glanced a brilliant near-post header into the net. Di Matteo - who had been about to send on Jose Bosingwa before the goal - instead chose to introduce Torres for Sturridge. The Spaniard almost unwittingly broke his goal drought when Ivanovic's drive hit him and was parried by De Sanctis, who then produced a world-class save to palm behind Drogba's shot on the turn. The game went into extra time and Ivanvovic flashed a header wide and Hamsik did likewise with a wonderful volley.
Torres missed a glorious chance when De Sanctis came rushing out and misjudged Drogba's long ball, leaving the striker with a tight angle but an empty net he failed to find. Di Matteo then withdrew Mata for Florent Malouda and an injured-looking Terry for Bosingwa. Despair turned to joy seconds before half-time, Drogba's superb turn and cross finding Ivanovic, who lashed the ball into the roof of the net. The result means the Blues became only the fourth club in 45 attempts to come back from losing a first leg by two or more goals, ensuring England's run of having at least one Champions League quarter-finalist since 1996 continues. Napoli sent on Goran Pandev for Hamsik but Chelsea were untroubled and Drogba almost scored a fifth.
