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Drogba opened the scoring from close range after just three minutes to set them on their way, before Ramires capitalised on a moment of indecision from Victor Ruiz to add a second midway through the first half.
Having been set free by a glorious through-ball from Juan Mata with 15 minutes remaining, the Ivorian made no mistake to wrap up a significant victory for the Blues, one that, coupled with Genk's draw with Bayer Leverkusen, sees them win Group E.
Villas-Boas surprised many by omitting Frank Lampard from the starting XI, preferring Raul Meireles in midfield, while, as expected, Drogba got the nod up front ahead of Fernando Torres in a team with just one change from the 3-0 win over Newcastle. Ruiz, meanwhile, had recovered from injury in time to start at centre-back for Valencia alongside Adil Rami. Chelsea carved out the first chance of the night. Daniel Sturridge battled to get past Jordi Alba on the right flank and passed to Drogba, who held the ball up before teeing up Meireles.
The Portuguese let fly from distance but his shot was saved by Diego Alves. But just a moment later, the Blues found a vital early breakthrough. Juan Mata picked the ball up on the left of the penalty area and slipped to Drogba, who took a step forward and lashed towards the net, with Alves getting a hand to the ball but not enough to divert it away from his far corner. The Spaniards nearly replied instantly, with Tino Costa’s pass into Jordi Alba, who came in with a fine run from the left and rattled the woodwork with his shot.
David Albelda then tested Petr Cech with a magnificent strike from 25 yards out, curling deliciously towards the top corner before the Czech goalkeeper intervened with a fingertip stop. After 20 minutes, the Blues extended their advantage, with the irrepressible Drogba blazing forward then playing Ramires through.
The Brazilian bore down on goal and took advantage of Ruiz’s hesitancy to take the ball round the centre-back and bury a simple finish inside the near post. Valencia resumed their travails after the break, bringing on Aritz Aduriz after 10 minutes to partner Roberto Soldado up front as they changed formation in the hope of breaching the hosts’ stubborn defence.
With Villas-Boas beginning to make changes with a view to shutting the game down, Drogba was found in an increasingly-rare forward foray for Chelsea. The Ivorian displayed fantastic strength to power past Ruiz and closed in on the Valencia net, but his shot was scuffed wide when it appeared he had done all the hard work. Yet he made up for his mistake two minutes later.
Drogba was set free with a perfect through ball from Mata behind him and, with both centre-backs taken out of the equation, passed into the net in a cool finish. The third goal visibly took the wind out of Valencia's sails and not even a brief pitch invasion could distract Chelsea from holding on for an important victory which could turn their season around. Los Che, meanwhile must settle for a place in the Europa Leagu
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