Who needs Jose? Drogba lifts stuttering Chelsea

Inspired by John Terry's courage and Joe Cole's class, this was an extraordinary result for a team who appeared to be lacking in direction against a more fluent Valencia side.

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Super strike: Didier Drogba is played in by Joe Cole to fire home the Chelsea winner

For 45 minutes they were distinctly second best and thoroughly undeserving of the scrappy equaliser Cole managed to steal in response to a crushing early strike from David Villa.

The second half, however, was a different story. The story of Terry's tenacity and Cole's considerable talent; of a captain who launched himself at every corner, knowing that one blow to his right cheekbone could put him straight back in hospital.

The story of a creative midfielder who demonstrated his long-admired ability with a 40-yard pass that took out four Valencia defenders and presented Didier Drogba with the chance to score a wonderful winning goal.

"It was nice to play with freedom," said Cole in a not-so-veiled dig at former boss Jose Mourinho and his more disciplined ways.

For Grant, a night when the pressure lifted off those broad, bulky shoulders gave him the chance finally to enjoy being Chelsea manager and the opportunity to stick two fat fingers up at his tormentors.

He went some way to proving he can get results, even after seven years away from the Champions League.

His side had not only finished with 11 men and scored the kind of goals that have been proving so elusive, he had just matched Mourinho in emulating his predecessor's finest hour in Europe as Chelsea manager.

Mourinho beat Valencia 2-1 here last April and Grant had managed the same.

Even at the sound of the final whistle, he responded exactly as Mourinho had done. Standing proud in a blue shirt and tie, he greeted every Chelsea player as they walked off the pitch. High fives for a team now back on a high.

Blues cruise: John Terry (right) and Steve Sidwell salute the Chelsea fans after their 2-1 victory

In Terry he had his superhero, complete with mask, and in Cole he had a player relishing the opportunity to perform without the restrictions imposed on him by Mourinho.

It was a joy to watch, even if Cole should still thank Mourinho for making him a far more mature footballer.

Valencia paid for a lack of maturity last night, as well as a lack of ambition. After beating Schalke in their opening game, they seemed content to settle for a 1-1 draw and were punished when Chelsea finally rediscovered their ruthless side.

Cultured in the first half, Valencia manager Quique Sanchez Flores even resorted to sticking the big man up front in the second. Nikola Zigic is as tall as Peter Crouch but wider and his arrival only succeeded in convincing Chelsea they could win this game.

They started badly, conceding a goal after nine minutes when confusion led to chaos and, in turn, to what looked like an insurmountable lead for the Spaniards.

Paulo Ferreira and Claude Makelele collided in trying to challenge Villa, Ferreira sent his hurried clearance against Michael Essien's arm and the ball ricocheted into the path of Villa, who sprinted past Terry and guided a terrific finish beyond Petr Cech.

Ricardo Carvalho's forehead shows a sizeable bump after a second-half clash with Zigic

Valencia were a little fortunate, although they had already looked dangerous with a swiftly-executed attack that ended with a shot by David Silva and their superior football suggested Chelsea were going to suffer.

From somewhere, though, the visitors produced a 21st-minute equaliser, Drogba providing the pass, Florent Malouda the cross and Cole the close-range finish.

It had initially looked like an own goal by Emiliano Moretti but Cole got the final touch. The half-time statistics favoured the hosts. Valencia had unleashed eight shots to Chelsea's two and enjoyed the majority of possession.

After the break, however, everything changed. Had Grant delivered a rousing speech? Had he stood at the tactics board and come up with Plan B?

In fairness to Grant, he did have the tactical nous to send on Alex and switch to five at the back once Drogba had secured the lead in the 70th minute.

If there was an anxious moment when Villa had a second "goal" rightly disallowed for offside, there was only elation when Drogba accelerated away from Raul Albiol and guided his shot past Timo Hildebrand.

Sweet freedom: Cole gets a touch to open the scoring

It was Drogba's 18th Champions League goal and a perfect demonstration of why Andriy Shevchenko was dropped for this game and why he should never start for Chelsea again.

Drogba has the kind of pace and athleticism that Shevchenko has so clearly lost. Not only that, he has the passion and determination Shevchenko so clearly lacks.

Drogba does, of course, owe much to Cole for finding himself in the position to score and not just because of his team-mate's vision and precision.

It was Cole who won the ball in the first place, wrestling it off Carlos Marchena.

"Football with style" was what Grant promised and in that one moment Cole and Drogba delivered.

VALENCIA (4-2-2-2): Hildebrand 6; Miguel 6, Albiol 6, Helguera 6, Moretti 5; Marchena 6, Albelda 7 (Baraja 74min, 6); Silva 6, Joaquin 6 (Arizmendi 89); Villa 6, Morientes 6 (Zigic 69, 6). Booked: Marchena.

CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech 6; Ferreira 6, Carvalho 6, Terry 7, A Cole 6; Makelele 6, Essien 6 (Sidwell 84), Mikel 5 (Alex 89); J Cole 7, Drogba 7, Malouda 7.

Booked: Mikel.

Man of the match: Joe Cole.

Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy).