Shrewsbury Town 2-1

Independent:

Dismay for Shrews as Jermaine Grandison own goal puts Blues into last eight of League Cup
 
Shrewsbury Town 1 Chelsea 2

League Two side run Premier League leaders close with spirited performance

Jon Culley  

Chelsea weathered a storming effort from League Two Shrewsbury to make their way into the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup, maintaining their unbeaten record across all competitions despite a raft of changes from the side denied by Robin van Persie’s late equaliser at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Jose Mourinho’s side looked ready to progress comfortably when Didier Drogba  put them ahead three minutes into the second half but Micky Mellon’s team, 72 places below Chelsea in the league ladder, clawed their way back when Andy Mangan equalised with 13 minutes left.

There would be no fairytale, though. No sooner had the home crowd drawn breath after loudly celebrating their side’s well-deserved reward than Chelsea were back in front as substitute Willian’s cross found its way into the net off the head of defender Jermaine Grandison.

With suspensions and injuries eating into his squad even before he considered who might benefit from a rest, Mourinho had dipped into his reserves for some less familiar names, with Kurt Zouma teamed with Gary Cahill in central defence, Nathan Aké alongside John Obi Mikel as the two deeper midfielders and Mohamed Saleh on the right of the trio supporting Didier Drogba. Andreas Christensen made his debut at right-back.

Shrewsbury, having seen off three Championship sides already, did not lack self-belief, gaining early encouragement when Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro’s header forced Petr Cech into a scrambling save. It was a test of Chelsea’s composure and Aké, the 19-year-old Dutchman, lost his for a moment when he brought down Bobby Grant, a challenge that earned the teenager a caution.

The home side were well organised and Chelsea did not look a real threat until Drogba launched a breakaway attack with a clearance from deep in his own half that sent Saleh away. The Egyptian then found André Schürrle on the left only for the German to pass up the chance to shoot in favour of a ball back into the box that was easily cleared.

Shrewsbury walked off at half-time to generous applause, yet Mourinho’s side were ahead within three minutes as Salah, from Schürrle’s pass, played a neat ball in for Drogba to sweep past Jayson Leutwiler for his third goal in as many matches.

Shrewsbury mounted a positive response and would have been level had Nathaniel Knight-Percival’s deflected shot spun inside rather than outside the right-hand post, although it would have been tough on Cech, who was hopelessly wrong-footed. Drogba’s appetite on his third appearance in eight days had to be commended.  Chelsea needed a second goal before they could begin to relax and, though Leutwiler had to stretch to help a long-range effort from Schürrle over the bar, if anyone was going to score it then Drogba looked the most likely.

Instead, Shrewsbury came up with an equaliser, a just reward for their refusal to let the Premier League leaders dictate.  From Liam Lawrence’s corner, Grandison’s header reached Mangan, on the field only a couple of minutes as the home side’s second substitute, who swept it gleefully past Cech.

Mourinho’s response was to send on two of his battalion on the bench, replacing Salah and Obi Mikel with Willian and Nemanja Matic and within moments Chelsea were ahead again as Willian’s cross, aimed at Drogba, was turned into his own net by Grandison.

Man of the match Drogba.

Match rating 7/10.

Referee N Swarbrick (Lancashire).

Attendance 10,201.


=================


Guardian:

Didier Drogba makes his presence felt to guide Chelsea past Shrewsbury

Jamie Jackson at New Meadow


A wet and at times uncomfortable evening in Shropshire for Chelsea ended with José Mourinho’s team squeezing into the quarter-finals. Didier Drogba continues his refusal to be ignored on his return to the club, scoring the first goal for Chelsea and making himself a nuisance for the winner, which came when Jermaine Grandison turned the ball past his own goalkeeper, Jayson Leutwiler, with nine minutes remaining.

Mourinho will be relieved to return home with this game safely navigated as he prepares for Queens Park Rangers’ visit on Saturday before the Champions League game with Maribor and the trip to Liverpool on 8 November.

Understandably he picked out the 36-year-old Drogba for playing a second match in two days after he starred in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Manchester United. Mourinho, though, was clear he expected more from some.

“If players who play 90 minutes two days ago were fantastic tonight, I expect people who are not playing a lot to raise the level to create me problems. I love problems of choices [in selection]. And it is easy to choose my team for Saturday,” he said.

Pushed if André Schürrle and Mo Salah, who started against Shrewsbury, were two players he wanted to give him a headache, he said: “Yeah.”

Mourinho said normally Diego Costa could play against QPR following a hamstring problem but of Drogba being able to make it a third match in seven days he said: “We will see. His character is bigger than his body. His character is stronger than his body. So what he did today was maybe because of his character and not because of his body. So let’s see the reaction. This is what makes players special and if I was a kid player and I play with this guy on my side and I am 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 what can I wish more? So for the kids it has to be a privilege and they have to learn by example.”

“Yes I was worried when they equalised. Shrewsbury put up a great fight. They are what the cups are all about.”

The rain came down before kick-off and continued to soak the players during a first half that unfolded predictably. Shrewsbury were breathless and in the visitors’ faces, while Chelsea preferred to wait and patiently prod and probe.

Two early corners won by Chelsea and taken by Schürrle came to nothing before Shrewsbury claimed their own via James Collins following a breakaway attack. When the ball arced in from the left Petr Cech did well to save a Nathaniel Knight-Percival header.

These teams last met 11 years ago. Then, Chelsea won 4-0 in an FA Cup tie with a side who included Gianfranco Zola, Emmanuel Petit, Graeme Le Saux, Frank Lampard and John Terry, who as a substitute here was the sole survivor from the encounter at old Gay Meadow.

The side named by Mourinho had a debutant – the 18-year-old Danish defender Andreas Christensen – and was led by Drogba, who showed flashes of his class throughout.

Micky Mellon initially selected the same side who defeated Portsmouth at the weekend, before James Wesolowski was replaced by Liam Lawrence before the start.

Drogba, who scored at Old Trafford, ended the half again finding the net but was adjudged offside.

The ground’s capacity had been specially extended to 10,210 with 1,720 of these a travelling support who were celebrating three minutes into the second half. Schürrle found Salah and when he slickly played in Drogba this time the Ivorian did score, leaving Leutwiler no chance.

Yet in Ryan Woods, a diminutive 20-year-old midfielder, Shrewsbury had a player who was willing to try to run the game. It was Woods who won the free-kick from which Connor Goldson might have equalised. Lawrence floated the ball towards Chelsea’s penalty spot and when it broke to the captain his shot ricocheted around the area to wrong-foot Cech before going wide.

While the score remained only 1-0 Shrewsbury had a chance of taking the tie into extra time. And, after Mellon’s introduction of Andy Mangan for Collins on 75 minutes, that was were the contest was headed. Lawrence pinged in a corner from the left and after some scrappy play Mangan smashed home.

Mourinho had seen enough. Off came Salah and Mikel John Obi for Willian and Nemanja Matic. Seconds later Chelsea moved downfield and with Drogba in close attendance Grandison was the author of the dreaded own goal.


==================

Telegraph:


Shrewsbury Town 1 Chelsea 2

Resilient Shrews tamed as Jose Mourinho's side reach quarters

Premier League side through to last eight after surviving scare against League Two side in rainy Midlands
 
By  Henry Winter, Football Correspondent, Greenhous Meadow


One man went to mow, went to mow Greenhous Meadow. That man was Didier Drogba, 36 but still lean, still a goal machine, still hungry and still a wonderful example to young professionals. Drogba scored Chelsea first, his third in under a week, and after Shrewsbury equalised through Andy Mangan, he so scared the hosts' defence that Jermaine Grandison conceded an own goal.

Drogba has played four hours and 14 minutes in six days, scoring against Maribor, Manchester United and now Shrewsbury. In the final minute here, as Micky Mellon's enterprising League Two side were mounting a late siege, Drogba took the ball down to the corner, a compliment to the hosts as he used up vital seconds to steer Chelsea into the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup.

At the final whistle, Drogba was applauded off the pitch by Chelsea fans and Shrewsbury's alike. They admired his determination, his enduring professionalism, the way he kept running in the rain against a redoubtable three-man central defence.

They respected him even more half an hour later. He emerged from the tunnel, strode over to the group of home fans waiting patiently and satisfied the demand for autographs and photographs. “What an absolute legend,'' said one fan as Drogba finally headed off for some interviews.

“I played here before, with Galatasaray, and I think Shrewsbury have improved since then,'' said Drogba. “It was difficult tonight with the weather. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the game. It was difficult but I started (his career) playing in places like this.''

Captain for the night, Drogba added: “I don’t need a armband to push the team.” That's Drogba, giving everything, a willing worker again with Diego Costa and Loic Remy injured. “I was worried when they equalised but we go through and Didier played a massive part in that,'' said Jose Mourinho.

“Hopefully he will be good for the weekend (against QPR) but we will have to see because right now his character is stronger than his body. Maybe what he has done today is through his character - not his body. That's what makes players special and any of the young players lucky enough to play alongside him, learn from that. It's a privilege for them. If I'm 18, 19, 20, 21, I want to learn from him.'' Mourinho was clearly not impressed with some of his players. “I expect players to give me problems.

I love problems. But a lot of them didn't and they've made it easy to choose my team for Saturday.” Asked about the performances of Mohamed Salah and Andre Schurrle, who were particularly poor, Mourinho's countenance exuded disappointment.

He preferred to praise others. “I think I had on my four players that played on Sunday (Drogba, Gary Cahill, Filipe Luis and Oscar) and they were an unbelievable example for others. They were absolutely brilliant.'' So were others. “When you have Petr Cech and Jon Mikel Obi not playing regularly, they come here and give great example of professionalism.”

Youngsters like Nathan Ake, Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma hardly enhanced their reputations unlike the 20-year-old Shrewsbury midfielder, Ryan Woods, a home-grown talent with a competitive edge, neat touch and fearlessness demonstrated in the way he hounded Drogba out of possession at one point. He battled Mikel and Aké for the ball. He closed down Oscar. He looked a real prospect.

The taming of the Shrews was no easy production for Mourinho to direct. “Shrewsbury put up a great fight,'' added Mourinho. “They are what the cups are all about. You’re playing a World Cup final, because that is what it is for Shrewsbury.” The League Two side spent nothing in the summer, and the half-time announcer introduced the £1,000 Golden Gamble draw with the words “we could buy five players with that”. Poor in budget, Town were rich in spirit, responding to the raucous support. Shrewsbury fans adorned the stands with banners such as “Floreat Salopia”, “Breathe On 'Em, Salop” and “Proud Salopian” and got totally, ceaselessly behind their Woods and company.

A crowd of 10,210 squeezed in to the Greenhous Meadow, including 1,720 Chelsea fans. As the strains of Andy Williams' “Can't TAké My Eyes Off You”, a song for Drogba, floated away into the drizzly night, Shrewsbury had suffered a setback in the warm-up when James Wesolowski damaged his groin, bringing Liam Lawrence into the heart of midfield alongside Woods.

Unfortunate as this was for Wesolowski, Lawrence was very influential, curling over a fifth-minute corner from the left met by Nathaniel Knight-Percival, whose header was just kept out by Cech.

Mellon instructed his players not to be in awe of Chelsea, and Woods was swiftly into his impressive stride, dribbling around Oscar, launching attacks from alongside Lawrence. When Shrewsbury calmly built a move down the right, working the ball around yellow shirts, Aké lost his composure, and dived in on Bobby Grant, earning a booking.

They were defending well, Knight-Percival closing down Drogba.

The Ivorian then launched a stunning counter-attack, driving the ball 40 yards to Salah, who sped 30 yards being tracked by the tireless Woods.

Salah checked inside, allowing Woods to catch up, before clipping the ball across to the unmarked Schurrle, who wasted the moment with an anaemic header.

Until Drogba's goal, Chelsea lacked real conviction. Oscar shot over. Mikel lost the ball to Grant. Mourinho sent Willian out to warm up in front of a hoarding promoting Tiddlywinks Nursery (“Quality Nursery Education”). As Willian stretched, gales of laughter broke out behind him as a miscued shot from Salah flew out for a throw-in.

Drogba settled the nerves four minutes after the break.

Schurrle cut in from the right and passed to Salah, who helped the ball on to Drogba. He wasted no time in powering it past Jayson Leutwiler, Shrewsbury's keeper.

Shrewsbury responded strongly. After 75 minutes, Mellon sent on Mangan for James Collins and within 120 seconds the substitute equalised.

It came from a Lawrence corner, Grandison heading down and Mangan was quickest, firing in.

It was an inspired substitution from Mellon but Mourinho also made a significant move, sending on Willian and Nemanja Matic for Salah and Mikel after 80 minutes. Within 60 seconds, the move paid off. Willian crossed from the left, and Shrewsbury seemed distracted by Drogba. Poor Grandison, who had been superb all evening, turned the ball into his own net.

Drogba marches on.


==============

Times:

José Mourinho far from impressed by his labourers

Rory Smith

Shrewsbury Town 1 Chelsea 2

The biggest compliment Chelsea could have offered Shrewsbury Town came in the 93rd minute. José Mourinho, at that point in a game when he has a habit of offering a consoling, slightly patronising handshake, was busy preparing Eden Hazard to go on. Didier Drogba, his body doubtless aching, was taking an age to pick himself up off the floor.

These are the lightest shades of the dark arts, of course, but the message was still a powerful one: Chelsea, the Barclays Premier League’s clear leaders, all but unstoppable against their fellow members of the game’s elite, pulling every trick in the book to hold on against a side from Sky Bet League Two. That is how close Shrewsbury pushed them. That is how tight this was.

Mourinho described it as a “World Cup final” of a game. He was lavish in his praise of Micky Mellon’s side in public and doubtless equally complimentary in private, as the two shared a glass of wine in the bowels of the Greenhous Meadow. He admitted that he had feared extra time when Andy Mangan, with his first touch of the game, cancelled out Drogba’s opening goal, right until Jermaine Grandison’s own goal sent the west London side into the quarter-finals of the competition.

Amid all the magnanimity, though, a current of dissatisfaction ran through the Portuguese. Not just because his side had been forced to play only 48 hours after their draw at Old Trafford — “it should not be allowed” — but because too few of the seven players he brought into his line-up repaid his faith.

Shrewsbury deserved enormous praise for their efforts, of course, but Mourinho was right: he sent out a side full of fêted stars and celebrated internationals and it was hard to identify one who seized the chance. “I like problems,” he said. “I love problems of choice. I like them to give me problems, but a lot of them did not.

“There are players I expected more from. When there are players who have played for 90 minutes on Sunday and they are exceptional, then maybe I expect those who do not play so often to raise their level. They did not. They have made it easy for me to pick my team on Saturday.”

Drogba, by some considerable distance, was the most admirable of the players Chelsea sent out. He has struggled for fitness all season; he has now started twice in three days, but his performance gave no more clues as to his fatigue than it did his age.

He had one effort ruled out before half-time, before slotting home Mohamed Salah’s clever pass to open the scoring just after and then, as Willian’s cross fizzed into the box, forced Grandison into the decisive error. He, almost alone, was not unnerved by his surroundings. “I would not say I enjoyed the game, but I started playing in places like this,” he said.

Mourinho was less circumspect. “Maybe what he did was through his character, not his body,” the Portuguese said. “That is what makes players special. If I was a young player, I would see it as a privilege [to play with him]. They are lucky to play alongside him. They have to learn from that.”

Too few of Drogba’s team-mates matched his application, his industry, his energy. On one of those evenings when all of the clichés can be applied, when all of the cup upset boxes are ticked — squalls of rain, compact ground, baying crowd — Shrewsbury were at them from the off. Petr Cech saved from Nathaniel Knight-Percival and Bobby Grant whistled a shot over.

Ryan Woods, though, was the star of the show, a 20-year-old home-grown midfielder of rich promise who the locals know will not be around for long, his distribution flawless and his movement excellent. “I want to keep him here, but he is a player of incredible gifts,” Mellon said.

Even after Drogba’s goal should have crushed their spirit, Woods and his team-mates stuck at their task. They did not wilt. Connor Goldson inadvertently diverted a James Collins shot wide and Collins dragged another effort past Cech’s right-hand post. They would have their reward: Liam Lawrence’s corner was met by Grandison, John Obi Mikel could not clear his lines and, in the confusion, Mangan — on the pitch for just 84 seconds — steered the ball home. “We wanted to bring the fans off their seats,” Mellon said. They did that.

Their luck deserted them with eight minutes to play, once Mourinho had sent for Nemanja Matic and Willian, the cavalry. Shrewsbury, still, would not accept it was over. They kept coming, right until the end. Only then, once he had used all his tricks, was Mourinho safe.


Shrewsbury Town (5-3-2): J Leutwiler — J Grimmer, C Goldson, J Grandison, N Knight-Percival, M Demetriou — B Grant (sub: J Clark, 67min), R Woods, L Lawrence — J Collins (sub: A Mangan, 75), J-L Akpa Akpro. Substitutes not used: M Halstead, M Ellis, S Vernon, A Griffith.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): P Cech — A Christensen, K Zouma, G Cahill, F Luís — J Mikel (sub: N Matic, 80), N Aké — M Salah (sub: Willian, 80), Oscar (sub: E Hazard, 90+3), A Schürrle — D Drogba. Substitutes not used: I Brown, M Schwarzer, J Terry, L Baker. Booked: Aké.

Referee: N Swarbrick.


==============


Mail :

Shrewsbury 1-2 Chelsea: Jermaine Grandison own goal helps Jose Mourinho's men scrape into Capital One Cup quarter-finals after Didier Drogba's opener

By Laurie Whitwell for the Daily Mail  

SHREWSBURY 1-2 CHELSEA


It is games like this, just as much as Champions League matches, when Jose Mourinho illustrates his mastery of the substitution.

Having just seen his team concede a remarkable equaliser 13 minutes from the final whistle that seemed likely to send this Capital One Cup tie into extra time, the Chelsea manager immediately threw on Willian and Nemanja Matic.

In his first involvement, the Brazilian conjured a goal that spared any blushes. He raced down the left and produced a cross so troubling that Jermaine Grandison diverted into his own net with Didier Drogba lurking.

Remember when Mourinho acted quicker than Sir Alex Ferguson as Nani was dismissed against his Real Madrid side in Europe's elite competition? This was of similar ilk.

It was cruel on Shrewsbury, who barely three minutes earlier made it appear the impossible might be on. Liam Lawrence delivered a dangerous corner, Grandison nodded down and Andy Mangan prodded past Petr Cech 83 seconds after arriving from the bench himself.

Greenhous Meadow, boasting a record crowd for a football match thanks to 486 extra temporary seats, erupted so loud the whole of Shropshire would have heard.

Mellon calls himself the Special Brew to Mourinho's Special One, in light of the ale that has been created in his name by a local brewery.

He must be credited with fermenting a formula that for the entire first half kept a team of vastly greater ability and resources at bay.

That was until the appearance of the Special Drog. At 36, this is some winter to his career. Every day is Christmas it seems.

Drogba scored the opening goal here, his third goal in three games to give his team a foothold in a game they occasionally looked like slipping up in.

Three minutes after the interval he applied a sure finish to Mohamed Salah's through ball, following a flick from Andre Shurrle.

Mourinho questioned the application of some players he was giving a rare start to in light of the Ivorian striker who does not wilt.

'If players that played 90 minutes two days ago were fantastic I expect people who are not playing a lot to raise the level to create me problems,' Mourinho said. 'I love problems of choices, and it is easy to choose my team for Saturday.

'Hopefully Didier will be good for the weekend but we will have to see because right now his character is stronger than his body.

'That's what makes players special and if I was a kid player with this guy on my side what can I wish more? For the kids it is a privilege and they have to learn by example.'

Drogba added: 'I played here before, with Galatasaray. Shrewsbury have improved since then. It was difficult tonight with the weather. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the game. It was difficult but I started playing in places like this.'

This was the Premier League leaders, unbeaten in six months, against a side in League Two who have been bettered by Hartlepool, Stevenage and Southend this season.

Chelsea's squad cost around £300million to assemble. Shrewsbury's? Nothing. The teams are separated by 72 places in the league ladder.

It was David lining up against Goliath, except Goliath was on springs and David had two hands behind his back.

Still, Mourinho retained four of his starters from Sunday's match at Manchester United little more than 48 hours earlier.

Gary Cahill, Felipe Luis, and Oscar all began alongside Drogba. This was the first time he had started back-to-back games for Chelsea since April 2012, when the opponents on both occasions within a week were Barcelona.

Greenhous Meadow is no Nou Camp, but it is a finer stadium than you might expect for a League Two club.

Mellon has crafted a team who like to pass the ball, and in Ryan Woods have an excellent midfielder. For large swathes they worried Mourinho and when Mangan scored a shock was stirring.

'To get everyone out of their chairs was one of the things we wanted to do,' said Mellon. 'We're trying to re-build a football club and I cant say how proud I am of my players.'

Shrewsbury had the first chance in the fourth minute. Lawrence delivered a corner that Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro rose to head down, forcing Petr Cech to palm away.

Shrewsbury were the team conducting incisive attacks. Akpa Akpro's pace particularly troubled Chelsea. One passing move started from the back and involved six Shrewsbury players before James Collins sent his header wide.

Chelses were curiously unsure. Just after the half hour, Drogba set Salah away on a counter attack and when he picked out Schurrle in the middle it seemed a goal was inevitable. But the German World Cup winner instead nodded back across and Shrewsbury scrambled clear.

That may influence who starts against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday. 'At the end we had a glass of wine,' said Mellon. 'He is an example for any young manager how to operate.'

Mourinho and Drogba, examples alike.


==============

Mirror:

Mourinho's men made to sweat by plucky Shrews

By James Nursey


Old man Didier Drogba sparked the eventual win but not before sub Andy Mangan had the minnows dreaming of a historic upset

Jose Mourinho admitted Shrewsbury “worried” him after seeing old campaigner Didier Drogba drag him out the mire.

Chelsea’s unbeaten run was in jeopardy at the most unlikeliest of surroundings when the League Two Shrews equalised 13 minutes from time.

Town sub Andy Mangan scored from a corner to cancel out Drogba’s 48th-minute opener after a tight first half.

And it took an own goal winner nine minutes from time when Jermaine Grandison deflected in William’s cross under pressure from Drogba to settle the tie.

It was harsh on Town, whose display belied their position 72 League places below the Premier League leaders.

Micky Mellon’s side put up a thrilling fight playing good football with young midfielder Ryan Woods impressing.

The hosts’ efforts made for an exciting game at a wet Greenhous Meadow in a cracking cup tie infront of a record sell-out 10,210 crowd.

It has everyone on tenterhooks when Mangan equalised in the 77th minute just seconds after coming on.

And even Blues boss Mourinho admitted: “I was worried yeah, I tried to win the game in the last 10 minutes.

“I didn’t want to go to extra time.

“It was difficult conditions, difficult weather but I am happy with my players’ approach.”

Mourinho was particularly pleased with Chelsea veteran Drogba, who skippered the side despite playing at Manchester United on Sunday.

He took his goal well and inspired Chelsea along with Filipe Luis, Oscar and Gary Cahill who were the other survivors from Sunday’s Old Trafford trip.

Mourinho added: “Guys like Didier Drogba and Oscar showed great professionalism.

“Didier doesn’t need to send messages to me.

“He was doing something which shouldn’t be allowed but they did which was to play two matches in 48 hours.

“It shouldn’t be allowed but it was and they were fantastic.”

Town won an early corner and Petr Cech had to be alert to keep out a header by Nathaniel Knight-Percival.

While Bobby Grant struck a rising shot over the bar and James Collins headed wide.

But Chelsea should have taken the lead in the 31st minute when Mohamed Salah, freed by Drogba's superb pass, crossed to Andre Schurrle, who made a complete hash of his free header.

A tight first half saw the hosts warmly applauded off at the break by their delighted fans.

And it needed striker Drogba,36, to finally break their resistance with a clinical low finish from Mohamed Salah’s pass.

It was his third goal in as many games and continues to vindicate Mourinho’s decision to re-sign him this summer.

But remarkable Shrewsbury levelled when sub Mangan struck at a corner in the 77th minute just 84 seconds after coming on.

There was still time for a cruel twist though as Grandison notched an OG as sub William’s inswinging cross was deflected in by the Town defender.

But pound for pound it was arguably the hosts who emerged with the most credit as their annual £1.4million wage bill is 125 times smaller than Chelsea’s at £176m.

Certainly those fans who queued up for the tie which sold out in two hours will not have felt short-changed at Mellon’s side’s display.

Mellon reflected: “For our lads to make them take the ball into the corner at the end is great credit to us.

“This is what cup football should be all about, Chelsea treated it in the right way.

“Jose Mourinho said to me before the game: ‘you have a good team and we know that’.

“We were determined to play with no fear and have a right good go and be organised.”

Player ratings:

Shrewsbury: Leutwiler 6, Grimmer 7, Grandison 6, Goldson 7, Knight-Percival 7, Demetriou 6, Woods 8, Grant 7 (Clark 67, 6) , Lawrence 7, Akpa Akpro 7, Collins 7 (Mangan 75, 7)

Chelsea: Cech 7, Christensen 6, Zouma 7, Cahill 7, Luis 6, Oscar 6 (Hazard 90, 6), Mikel 6 (Matic 80, 6), Ake 6 Booked, Schurrle 6, Drogba 8, Salah 6 (William 80, 6)


============

Express:

Shrewsbury 1 - Chelsea 2: King Didier Drogba still wears the crown for the Blues

CHELSEA’S ‘King’ got them out of a right royal problem at Shrewsbury.

By: John Wragg

The Premier League leaders, unbeaten this season, broke Shrewsbury Town’s impressive resistance with an early second-half goal from Didier Drogba – and it still was not enough.

They needed him again after Shrewsbury had equalised, Drogba putting so much fear into a League Two defence that Jermaine Grandison inadvertently won a terrific tie for Chelsea with an own-goal nine minutes from time.

Some players, at 19, feel like skipping an England game because they are tired but Drogba, at 36, has just played twice in three days and scored twice.

His goal at Manchester United earned the high-flying Blues a point and last night he refused to bow to a little club sensing a big night to remember.

No wonder his Chelsea team-mates are so in awe of Drogba they call him ‘The King’. Manager Jose Mourinho will not argue with that. He admitted he was worried when Shrewsbury pulled the game back to 1-1 and a place in the quarter-finals looked as if it wouldn’t be decided in normal time.

“Worried? Yes, that is normal,” said Mourinho.

“Drogba doesn’t need to send messages to me. The message is what he, Filipe Luis, Oscar, and Gary Cahill gave, doing something that shouldn’t be allowed, playing two football matches in 48 hours.

“That shouldn’t be allowed, but it is and the players were fantastic.

“We did Manchester to London, London to Shrewsbury, we came here for difficult conditions. I did not want it to go to extra-time so I tried to win the game in the last 10 minutes with the substitutions.”

Drogba has now scored three times in three successive games in eight days on his Chelsea comeback, including the Champions League penalty against Maribor, and Mourinho said: “His character is bigger, stronger than his body. So what he did today maybe was because of his character and not because of his body, so let’s see the reaction after this.

“But this is what makes players special and if I was a kid and I play with this guy on my side, and I am 18, 20, 21, 22, what can I wish more? For the kid it is a privilege and they have to learn by example.”

Drogba’s goal came in the 49th minute, made by Andre Schurrle and Mohamed Salah, the best Chelsea football of a tie Shrewsbury had generally ruled to that point. The shot was driven in by Drogba, but he had spent as much of the first half defending as he had attacking, such did Shrewsbury push Chelsea on to the back foot.

Shrewsbury had knocked out Blackpool, Leicester and Norwich, something Mourinho had watched on video and noted the danger.

When Andy Mangan, a second-half substitute, swivelled almost on the goal line and bashed in the 77th-minute equaliser, the fight Mourinho thought he might have was very much on.

Earlier, fans had piled into Greenhous Meadow, with its extra seats fitted into the corners and the marquees in the car park. There were 10,210 in the ground, the most ever in the seven-year history of the stadium except for an Elton John concert, and Shrewsbury entertained them.

Mourinho, winner of everything apart from the World Cup – and he probably thinks he deserves that as well – watched from the touchline, wet in his tracksuit, as Shrewsbury caused him worries.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech saved on his line near his post when Nathaniel Knight-Percival got in a close-range header from a fifth-minute corner and then Bobby Grant drove forward fiercely with a drive.

Shrewsbury’s record in the stadium this season is impressive, nine wins and a draw in 10 games, and so there was no shortage of home confidence. Mourinho, for his part, had kept only the four players he mentioned from the Manchester United game, looking for fresh legs only two days later.

But fresh ideas? There were not many and it needed the warrior Drogba to force Chelsea through.

William was one of Mourinho’s late subs and Drogba pounded towards his 81st-minute cross, Grandison commendably getting there before him, but then deflecting in the decisive goal.

SHREWSBURY TOWN (5-3-2): Leutwiler; Grimmer, Goldson, Grandison, Knight-Percival, Demetriou; Grant (Clark 67), Woods, Lawrence; Akpa-Akpro, Collins (Mangan 75). Goal: Mangan 77.

CHELSEA (4-5-1): Cech; Christensen, Zouma, Cahill, Filipe Luis; Mikel (Matic 80), Ake, Salah (Willian 80), Oscar (Hazard 90), Schurrle; Drogba. Booked: Ake. Goals: Drogba 49, Grandison 81 og.

Referee: N Swarbrick (Lancashire).


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Star:


Shrewsbury Town 1 - Chelsea 2: Blues survive Cup scare as own-goal gifts them the win

DIDIER DROGBA came to Chelsea's rescue to shatter the plucky League Two battlers.

By Dave Armitage

Drogba answered a half-time rallying call from furious boss Jose Mourinho with his third goal in a week.

The veteran striker shunted Chelsea into the lead two minutes after the break and had a hand in the winner after Shrewsbury had looked like taking the match into extra-time.

How sad that in the end they lost to an own goal from Jermaine Grandison, who got the final touch when Drogba homed in on Willian's 81st-minute cross.

Grandison had played his part in hauling Micky Mellon's side back into it a few minutes earlier when he knocked the ball on for substitute Andy Mangan to level. Chelsea deserved to edge the tie but it took the evergreen Drogba and substitutes worth £87m to tip things their way.

Take nothing away from Shrewsbury, they turned in an immense performance and no wonder Mourinho read the riot act to his team at the interval.

But he was full of praise for 36-year-old Drogba who put in another dogged 90 minutes, 48 hours after his heroics against Manchester United.

Mourinho said: "Yes, I was worried when they equalised but we go through and Didier played a massive part in that.

"Hopefully he will be good for the weekend but we will have to see because right now his character is stronger than his body. "Maybe what he has done today is through his character not his body.

"That's what makes players special and any of the young players lucky enough to play alongside him learned from that."

Mourinho said the last thing he had wanted was extra-time, adding: "Shrewsbury put up a great fight. They are what the cups are all about."

Mourinho was not impressed with most of the players he had given chances to impress.

He said: "I expect players to give me problems. I love problems. But a lot of them didn't and they've made it easy to choose my team for Saturday."

Drogba shattered the home side when he slammed the ball home from close in after great work by Andre Schurrle and Mohamed Salah.

Two minutes later, a superb fingertip save from Jason Leutwiler kept out a vicious shot from Schurrle.

Mourinho had good cause to be angry at the break with Chelsea fortunate not to be behind to a team 71 places beneath them in the league ladder.

Chelsea had been given plenty to think about, not least when a shot from Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro struck team-mate James Collins and flew inches wide of the post.

Mangan's equaliser gave Shrewsbury hope but that was cruelly shattered when Grandison diverted the ball past his own keeper as he tried to intervene, with Drogba preparing to pounce on Willian's drive across the area.