Some strikers score steadily and quietly. Didier Drogba lived for finals. FA Cup finals, League Cup finals, a Champions League Final: he scored in all of them, and in the last one he also took the decisive kick.
The 2012 Champions League Final
Chelsea's greatest night came in the 2012 Champions League Final. Drogba scored the equaliser, then stepped up in the shootout and converted the winning penalty. That performance alone would put him on any list of great strikers.
The wider record at Stamford Bridge:
- Scored in four FA Cup Finals, the most by any player in the competition's history
- Four Premier League titles
- 164 goals across two spells at the club
For Ivory Coast he became the all-time top scorer, and he was twice named African Footballer of the Year.
He also made life miserable for Premier League defenders for more than a decade. His physical presence and his power in the air were more than most back lines could handle, and a good number of centre-backs are still recovering.
The most reliable big-game striker the Premier League has had starts our countdown.
Tomorrow: number 29.
