Everton 0 - 0 Chelsea
Everton began the Friedkin era by scrapping their way to a fourth goalless draw in six games to slow Chelsea’s charge towards the top of the Premier League table.
The Londoners travelled to Merseyside on an eight-match winning streak in all competitions and with the chance of temporarily taking first place from Liverpool had they won at Goodison Park this afternoon.
Instead, like Arsenal last weekend, Chelsea were held at bay by another dogged defensive performance from the Blues in blustery conditions and Enzo Maresca might even have felt fortunate to have left with a point after Jack Harrison spurned a great chance and Tosin Adarabioyo denied Iliman Ndiaye what would have been a dramatic winner in the second half.
With new Executive Chairman, Marc Watts watching on and Dwight McNeil still feeling discomfort in his knee, Sean Dyche named an unchanged side from the one that travelled to the Emirates last Saturday and while there was more attacking intent from the Toffees in the early going, they struggled to create anything meaningful while ensuring they remained compact and impregnable at the back.
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With talent across their front line, the visitors threatened early when Cole Palmer, the architect of Everton’s destruction at Stamford Bridge in mid-April, fired wide from just inside the penalty area after only two minutes and Pedro Neto had a sighter of his own that was on target but failed to trouble Jordan Pickford.
At the other end, Everton’s key route to goal appeared to be by capitalising on Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s aerial prowess and an opportunity opened up in the ninth minute when Abdoulaye Doucouré latched onto his flick-on and played the striker back in but Robert Sanchez easily plucked the final chipped cross out of the air.
The Chelsea keeper also made a routine save from Ashley Young’s free-kick after Ndiaye had been fouled by Enzo Fernandez but Everton’s hard work to that point looked to have been undone in the 26th minute when they lost a battle in midfield.
Pedro Neto picked out Palmer who squared a cross into the box for Nicolas Jackson but Pickford had positioned himself brilliantly and was able to foil the striker from point-blank range.
Five minutes later, after Pickford had parried another effort from Jackson behind, the resulting corner evaded everyone but was met by the Senegalese at the back post where, thankfully, he could only plant his header onto the post.
Back at the other end, meanwhile, Ndiaye released Doucouré whose square pass found Orel Mangala and his low shot searching out the bottom corner was palmed wide of goal at full stretch by Sanchez.
And it was Everton who came very close to opening the scoring shortly after half-time. Great footwork by Ndiaye had ended with Sanchez catching his delivery from the left four minutes after the restart but a minute after that, when Calvert-Lewin came short to knock Pickford’s ball forward to Ndiaye, the winger sent it across the Chelsea box where Harrison was arriving to potentially break the deadlock.
Unfortunately, Sanchez closed the angle, spread himself wide and blocked the on-loan Leeds man’s shot and the chance went begging.
As the game reached the hour mark, Palmer, in particular stepped up his efforts to try and influence the outcome of an occasionally fractious contest but his direct free-kick smacked off the defensive wall, Fernandez could only shoot meekly at Pickford and then had a free-kick of his own blocked when Palmer was bundled over by Vitalii Mykolenko right the edge of the area.
Everton always posed a threat of their own on the counter, though, and when Sanchez could only help Harrison’s flighted cross to the back of his box with his glove, a chance opened up for Ndiaye but he delayed taking a shot until it was too late.
Then, 13 minutes from time, Beto won a tussle near the centre-circle and it off to his fellow substitute, Jesper Lindstrom and when the Dane’s low cross was pushed away from goal by Sanchez, Ndiaye came steaming in to convert the loose ball but Tosin made a last-ditch block to keep it out.
And that was more or less that as Maresca’s men appeared to run out of ideas and it was Sanchez who made the final save of the match, getting down low to keep out Mangala’s crisp strike from distance.
The draw leaves Everton sitting three points above the drop zone heading into Christmas but without a goal six of their last seven games, no doubt heightening the need to add more attacking potency in the upcoming transfer window.
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