With a busy festive period in full flow, it’s time to look at the top goalscorer over New Year ten years ago. Hint: the top two were from Chelsea and Manchester United.
General view during the match – Stamford Bridge, Chelsea
A decade ago the Premier League was littered with a string of top class forwards. Whether it was Cristiano Ronaldo for Manchester United or an in-form Benni McCarthy for Blackburn, there was no shortage of talent up top. But there was one man who stood head and shoulders above the rest as he enjoyed being in the form of his life – Chelsea’s own Didier Drogba.
The Ivory Coast international had gained a lot of both critics and fans during his tenure in the Premier League, with his diving sometimes cancelling out his fantastic ability on the pitch. Either way, his 13 goals in the first few months of the 2006/07 season left him top of the goalscoring tree as the season entered the new year – one ahead of United’s Portuguese star.
Didier Drogba v Porto 2004
Since that moment, the former Chelsea man has never looked back. Drogba went on to secure the golden boot with a final tally of 20 goals, and as the years went on he continued to carve a phenomenal legacy for himself at Stamford Bridge. His winner in the Champions League final will forever go down in Blues folklore, meanwhile the forward cut out all of the diving and turned himself into a world class player in the process.
Didier Drogba after Chelsea won the Champions League
The rest of the chasing pack, McCarthy and Ronaldo included, went on to have mixed careers. As we all know CR7 is still riding high as one of the greatest players in the history of the game, meanwhile McCarthy peaked during that season ten years ago and never really reached the same heights again.
Either way, it’s odd to see how far both the league and Didier Drogba have come in the space of a decade. In all honesty, some would still believe he could win the golden boot again in 2017.
Didier Drogba Premier League trophy 2006
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