Chris Bascombe
Chelsea were tripped up by Everton, just as Arsenal were the week before Credit: Getty Images/Lewis Storey
Jadon Sancho jumping over a challenge
Chelsea were tripped up by Everton, just as Arsenal were the week before Credit: Getty Images/Lewis Storey
Chelsea missed the chance to go top of the Premier League as Everton celebrated a new era with a resilient defensive performance.
Enzo Maresca’s resistance to the idea of his side going the distance in this year’s title race must be because he is wary of away days like this, when the resolve and experience of an emerging side is tested in unwelcoming conditions.
They were playing the song True Faith at Goodison Park. It could have been a request from either set of fans, one more convinced than they are letting on that they are in the midst of a title campaign, the other feeling hope is restored by a new, stable owner.
Chelsea did not do enough on this occasion, barely testing Jordan Pickford in a scrappy match in which Everton were able to repel the visitors as they did Arsenal a week ago.
Sean Dyche has been realistic about his long-term job prospects since the Friedkin Group took the keys to the club last week. Most coaches are defined solely on results. Dyche probably needs to restore a sense of enthusiasm too. If visited by the ghost of Christmas yet to come, Dyche is unlikely to be offered an image of himself standing on the touchline inside Everton’s new dockside home.
With new executive chairman Marc Watts watching on, this was the first opportunity under new ownership for Dyche to change his path. The trouble is he has little choice but to travel down a familiar road in order to get his club out of the relegation fight. You could say he is stuck between the dock and a hard place.
When assessing the fixture list, Everton’s coach will have drilled his players in executing the same gameplan. Plan A worked at Arsenal last weekend, the title contenders frustrated and increasingly panicky when the rare opportunities against a deep defence presented themselves.
Chelsea recognised quickly they faced an identical problem. It took Maresca’s side 25 minutes to register their first attempt, a rapid move involving Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson resulting in Pickford blocking the striker’s shot.
Jackson also headed against the post in the first half, but it was as close as they would come to winning; the scruffier the game, the less comfortable the visitors looked.
Referee Chris Kavanagh infuriated the home fans by constantly interrupting – the merest hint of a foul leading to a free-kick regardless of the level of contact – but the lack of flow suited Everton. Kavanagh’s officiating also made it more surprising when he considered Pickford’s reckless first half lunge on Malo Gusto fair, replays suggesting the slightest touch by the keeper on the ball. A penalty would still in all likelihood have been given had Gusto not impressively evaded the tackle.
Jack Harrison and Ilman Ndiaye could have won it for the hosts in the second half, but Dyche can be content with another gutsy point.
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