Michael Essien his contract on 12 March 2007. It was feared Essien would miss the 2008–09 Premier League season after sustaining anterior cruciate ligament damage on 5 September while playing for Ghana. However, on 7 March 2009, he came on as a substitute in the second half of the FA Cup match against Coventry City. In his second match back from the knee injury, Essien scored just before half-time to give Chelsea a vital away goal against Juventus in the Champions League first knockout round. Chelsea went on the draw the match 2–2 and through to the quarter-finals 3–2 on aggregate. He
Michael Essien in a 5–0 victory at Stamford Bridge. He scored his first brace for Chelsea against Wolverhampton Wanderers with a header and a low shot from outside the box, and came close to completing his first hat-trick for the club with a flurry of second half shots, one of which was tipped onto the bar by Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey. Essien was injured on international duty during the 2010 African Nations Cup and missed the remainder of the English domestic season. On 4 June 2010, he signed a two-year extension to his existing contract which would have kept him at the