Demolition Drogba puts fear into eyes of Benitez's defence

Provocative as ever, Jose Mourinho had said he expected Liverpool to "chase" Didier Drogba in the hope of provoking the striker into collecting a yellow card so he was suspended for next week's return leg.

Instead Drogba did the chasing, the hunting, the harrying and the terrorising. He was a one-man demolition force and, at times, the entire Liverpool defence crumbled as he bulldozed through them.

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Pace, power, movement and aggression. His display brought to mind the comment of a Premiership manager who, last season, said in private that he looked into his defenders' eyes after they had faced the awesome Ivorian and saw that they were in fear of what they had experienced.

Last night, Rafael Benitez could probably feel the same about Daniel Agger and John Arne Riise, and although he stood firm, Jamie Carragher certainly appeared unnerved and angered by Drogba. Maybe it was his antics, not so prevalent as of old but still evident, as he went down clutching his side in the second-half. But certainly, also, it was his astonishing appetite to attack and attack again.

At times Chelsea simply left him up there on his own, striking long balls forward, waiting for him to either win it or induce errors, nervousness and chaos. The way in which Drogba latched onto Paulo Ferreira's pass, rolled, out-muscled Agger and fed Joe Cole for his first-half goal summed up the threat posed by the player Mourinho targeted so rapidly and paid so handsomely for, when he was appointed Chelsea manager three years ago.

Drogba not only rolls defenders, he can roll them over, leaving them for dead. There was a header into Andrei Shevchenko's path and another as he beat Jose Reina to the ball although that time he appeared more wary of being clattered by the 'keeper than scoring what would have been the opening goal.

In previous seasons, Drogba has thrived as a single striker with two wingers playing off him. This season he has had Shevchenko for support although, in truth, he is still a lone wolf and works best that way, seeking out his prey. There are rough edges to go with the angular elbows and lung-busting running that reduced Agger, a defender of promise, to a quiver. His wastefulness was also apparent as he failed to find Cole, before his goal, as he ran clear.

"With someone that size, you've got to be up for a proper fight," Carragher had said before last night's match. "He's as good as any striker in the world at the moment, so we know how hard it'll be."

With 31 goals and probably almost as many assists the statistics fully back up those claims. Can any of Drogba's rivals for the claim to be the best striker in the country have scored a goal to rival the one the Chelsea player swivelled and smashed into the Liverpool net in the league meeting between these two sides earlier this season?

Many leading marksmen are finely attuned to playing up front on their own but they have not had the pressure that Drogba has endured this season, the sense of duty that has carried this Chelsea team so far especially as Shevchenko has struggled and Kalou has looked callow.

This was also Drogba's 56th appearance since August, an amazing feat of endurance and strength rivalled only by the metronome of a midfielder that is Frank Lampard. Except the midfielder does not quite get, or dish out, the punishing treatment that Drogba involves himself in attack and in defence, where he is also a powerful presence as he tracks back.

At times it has appeared he has lifted this Chelsea side which is looking tired through their prodigious exertions. Last night, also, they did not play especially well. He was, however, the difference in helping Mourinho secure a slim, but precious, advantage.