26 August 2004	Thursday	09 Rajab 1425

LONDON, Aug 25: Striker Didier Drogba scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea in a 2-0 victory at promoted Crystal Palace on Tuesday that sent Jose Mourinho's side to the top of the table.

The Ivory Coast forward, who cost a club record 24 million pounds ($43.34 million) when he joined from Olympique Marseille last month, scored after 28 minutes. Fellow new boy Tiago Mendes got the second as Chelsea made it three wins from three league games without conceding a goal.

England striker Emile Heskey similarly scored his first goal for Birmingham City since joining from Liverpool in the close season, heading home an eighth minute winner as they beat Manchester City 1-0 in the night's other game.

Chelsea were never threatened by a Palace side who could not compete with a club that has spent $350 million on new players since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over in July 2003.

Drogba met a Celestine Babayaro cross from the left with a powerful downward header into the lower corner of the net, while Portugal midfielder Tiago got his first for Chelsea with a fine angled shot in the 72nd minute.

Following up 1-0 wins over Manchester United and Birmingham City, the victory firmly established Chelsea's pre-season credentials as serious title contenders. Premier League action continues on Wednesday with six matches, led by Arsenal's bid to set a new unbeaten record of 43 games when the champions host Blackburn Rovers at Highbury.

CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE: Meanwhile, Inter Milan and Monaco rattled up convincing wins but Liverpool lost at home as all three clubs reached the Champions League's lucrative group phase on Tuesday.

Inter, who drew 1-1 at Basel a fortnight ago, made no mistake at San Siro with a 4-1 win in the second leg of the third qualifying round, while last season's finalists Monaco crushed 10-man Nova Gorica 6-0 for a 9-0 aggregate win.

Liverpool suffered their first competitive defeat under new Spanish coach Rafael Benitez, going down 1-0 at Anfield to Graz AK but surviving the upset with a 2-1 aggregate win.

Shelbourne's dreams of becoming the first club to reach the group phase from the opening qualifying round were shattered by the Irish side's 3-0 defeat at Deportivo Coruna, while Anderlecht went through 3-1 on aggregate after trouncing 10-man Benfica 3-0.

Rosenborg Trondheim qualified with a thrilling 3-2 away victory after extra time over 10-man Maccabi Haifa, having won the home leg 2-1. The six clubs will be joined in the draw by the 10 winners of Wednesday's ties and the 16 seeded teams. -Reuters