Everton 0, Chelsea 0
Moises Caicedo (left) in action against Everton's Abdoulaye Doucoure, the Chelsea midfielder was the game's outstanding player. Photo: PA
A chance to go top of the Premier League (for a few hours) had been squandered and in a game of few chances, one wondered if there was going to be a last golden opportunity of the day for Maresca to remind the cynics about his downbeat view on Chelsea’s title chances and shout: “I told you so”.
Instead, he was ebullient.
“I’m very happy, I told this to the players. I’m more happy than the Brentford game,” he said, enthusiastically, seeing a point gained more than two squandered.
“Everton is a tricky game, tricky stadium, tricky team. They’re one of the five best teams defensively in Europe in terms of clean sheets.”
With such enthusiasm for a stalemate, evidently you can take the man out of Italy, but not Italy out of the man.
A draw at Goodison Park is hardly cause to write off any side’s title chances, but if won, these are the type of fixtures which separate championship hopefuls from eventual winners.
Some performances are all about a statement of quality. Others are about character.
The Chelsea manager finding the positives after a dour draw is a reflection of how wary he is of away days like this, when the resolve and inexperience of an emerging side is tested in unwelcoming conditions, the wind consistently threatening to provide an assist for strikers.
Horrible matches demand ugly wins – a specialism of the greatest teams of the Premier League era. Chelsea will be the finished product when they add more grubbiness to their polish.
Equally, Maresca’s delight is more understandable upon further reflection. The foundations are undoubtedly being placed. In Moises Caicedo, Chelsea had the game’s most accomplished player. That was part of their problem in seeking the win; the artists were never going to enjoy themselves at this party.
This was an afternoon for the grinders who – as Everton manager Sean Dyche would usually phrase it – were willing to “put a shift in”.
Caicedo was up for the midfield battle, more often than not emerging victorious and collecting possession so often you would make sure he did not have a twin alongside him.
His application is infectious. Early in the second half, winger Pedro Neto dashed 40 yards towards his own goal to challenge Iliman Ndiaye. Such an image explains why Maresca was so upbeat. Chelsea never looked like a team when this squad was first assembled. That accusation could not be directed at them here.
“The togetherness was brilliant,” said Maresca. “Football is not only just how good you play on the ball, it is how you defend and how you deal with that.”
As the anchor, Caicedo allows the rest to seek the space and time to inflict punishment upfield. At Goodison, there was none, the visitors restricted to a couple of first-half chances and a penalty claim which could have gone their way.
“In this kind of game you have to be clinical,” said Maresca. “If you are able to be clinical then and score, the game can be completely different but until that moment you will struggle.”
For the rest of an unfulfilling game, Chelsea were lulled into a scrappy encounter which suited the hosts. The scruffier it was, the more dangerous Everton were.
Jack Harrison and Ndiaye might have won it in the second half with more composure. Chelsea may have had the intent to increase the tempo in search of a winner but the blue wall was immovable.
Not for the first time, Dyche will not be sure if he is receiving credit or veiled criticism when it is suggested the game proceeded exactly to his blueprint.
Designing a Premier League game is beyond many coaches, yet in successive weeks Everton have successfully repelled title contenders by being more than the sum of their parts.
Everton’s new executive chairman Marc Watts – the Friedkin Group representative entrusted with guiding the club into a new era – watched on, surely enthused by the team’s capacity to match such an accomplished, expensively assembled side as Chelsea.
Dyche has been realistic about his long-term job prospects since the new owners took the keys to the club. Most coaches are defined solely on results. Dyche probably needs to restore a sense of enthusiasm that he is the long-term answer too.
As he looks to prove himself the right man to lead Everton into their new waterside home, you could say he is stuck between the dock and a hard place.
“They seem like really good people, very serious people but in a nice relaxed manner, sharing thoughts,” said Dyche. “But I said the other day. I’m not naive. We have to win games.”
Occasionally – in the right context – draws are OK too, and both managers seemed content with this one.