Shades of Zidane blight Drogba's night

By Mike Collett

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Didier Drogba could have been Chelsea's hero in the Champions League final on what may have been his last appearance for the club but instead he ended it banished in disgrace.

The match perfectly encapsulated the two sides of the 30-year-old Ivory Coast striker, whose performances are marked by wonderful goals and theatrical diving that delight and annoy in almost equal measure.

With 78 minutes played of an increasingly tense Champions League final, Drogba came close to winning the game.

Springing up after yet another fall to the ground, he sent a brilliantly-executed arcing 20-metre shot out of reach of United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

But just as the Chelsea fans behind the goal rose as one to cheer what would have been a stunning goal, the ball smacked against the left-hand post and away to safety.

Twenty minutes later the other side of Drogba's character cost him dearly when a tussle between the players ended with Slovakian referee Lubos Michel showing him the red card after he had slapped United defender Nemanja Vidic in the face.

The dismissal echoed that of French icon Zinedine Zidane in the World Cup final in 2006.

Zidane, who had scored France's opening goal, had a glorious chance to head the winner with the scores tied at 1-1 but was denied by a brilliant save from Italy's Gianluigi Buffon.