But the England centre half went flying and sent his penalty wide, minutes later Manchester United were crowned European champions and Chelsea's wait to get their name on the trophy went on.
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Grant, the only manager to take the London club to the final, was immediately sent packing after nine months.
His replacement, Luiz Felipe Scolari, was sacked on Monday after seven months as the impatience, some might call it breathtaking arrogance, of the modern game's big clubs returned to the spotlight.
There is only one Champions League trophy and one domestic league for these mighty businesses to chase but when they are not secured, and sometimes even when they are, the reaction is often to rip it all up and start again with a new man.
When Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea and poured in funds previously unseen in the game, he expected an immediate return.
Claudio Ranieri could only reach the Champions League semi-finals so he obviously had to go.
Jose Mourinho delivered the League title, Chelsea's first for 50 years, retained it and added other domestic silverware in the club's most successful ever period but he too could not get beyond the last four in Europe.
Mourinho was a believer in building a team, rather than throwing together a collection of talented players, and that view appeared at odds with Abramovich, who hoped that buying in more big names would force the issue.
TALENT ADORED
It did, as Mourinho, a proven managerial talent adored by the fans, left "by mutual consent."
Grant was promoted from director of football to fill the hot seat but, displaying the world-weary demeanour of a man who expected every game to be his last, he was out after less than a season.
Chelsea then looked around for the biggest name they could get and, in World Cup-winner Scolari, thought they had found him.
The Brazilian, however, never seemed at home at Stamford Bridge and his struggles coincided with an apparent cooling of interest from Abramovich, who failed to spend the money the fans had hoped for to strengthen the team.
Chelsea remain very much in the hunt for the Champions League, where they face Ranieri's Juventus in the last 16, an
