'Bison' Essien tramples Betis underfoot

This time he arrived at the edge of the penalty area before the reaction came. By then he was able calmly to slip a pass to Didier Drogba for Chelsea's opening goal. It was a clinical execution. Essien made the goal with his purpose, making it easy for his team-mate and it was a hallmark of his performance.

Six minutes earlier he had moved similarly towards the Betis goal, before sending a clever pass inside Melli to release Shaun Wright-Phillips. From that Drogba should have scored also but it was a pass that Essien executed time and again, probing and pushing.

Much is rightly made of Essien's physique. It is what earned him his nickname and the midfielder himself has remarked that he has yet to meet anyone who could knock him over. It certainly appears no idle boast.

He was under scrutiny last night, of course, following his appalling challenge last weekend on Bolton Wanderers' Talal Ben Haim and is no stranger to red cards. It had been expected that he would receive a three-match ban but, under pressure from Fifa, the Football Association did not upgrade the offence.

The Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho did not lose him then but the Ghanaian will be missing in the new year - along with Drogba - for the African Cup of Nations.

That will hand the man he has replaced, Eidur Gudjohnsen, his opportunity, but for all the Icelander's intelligence and thoughtful use of the ball it is clear why Essien has usurped him - and not just because Mourinho has invested more than £24m in bringing him to England from Lyon.

He is the identikit of a Mourinho central midfielder, a man almost hewn for the Premiership but with the discipline - in terms of positional play if not always with his tackling - to fulfil his manager's orders. Last night he ploughed the channel down the central right side of midfield and was often the furthest forward, apart from the striker, constantly taking the fight.

He is also young, even if he arrived in European football five years ago, working his way through the French divisions and coming to prominence in the successful Ghanaian under-age teams. Still just 22, and having helped his country qualify for the World Cup for the first time, he is a study in raw power and perpetual motion, barrelling, legitimately, through Miguel Angel to end his involvement in the contest before shooting over.

Still Essien ran on. This time he was there to receive from substitute Hernan Crespo and release Joe Cole to terminate the Spaniards' interest. On a scary evening for the rest of Europe, never mind the Premiership, it was Essien who left the most definite imprint.