Chelsea held by determined Everton
Everton 0 - 0 Chelsea
The blue side of Merseyside did the red side of Merseyside a huge favour by holding Chelsea to a draw at Goodison Park
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca dismissed talk earlier in the week about his team being Premier League title contenders – and based on this result, he may have been right.
While the Italian may have privately harboured different thoughts, Chelsea’s eight-match winning streak across all competitions came to an end, delivering a blow to their hopes of reclaiming the league trophy for Stamford Bridge.
Star performer Cole Palmer, who stole the show with four goals – including a stunning first-half hat-trick – in a 6-0 demolition of Everton back in April, struggled to make an impact this time. He dragged an early shot wide and set up Jackson for a glaring miss.
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Jackson, who should have done better with a free header that struck the post, failed to capitalise on Chelsea's chances. Meanwhile, Pedro Neto’s speculative long-range effort was easily dealt with by Jordan Pickford.
Despite being prolific on the road this season, with 23 goals in eight away games, Chelsea's impressive run of scoring in 15 consecutive league matches came to an abrupt halt.
A promising start to Everton's new era
Everton's new executive chairman, Marc Watts, and other representatives from the Friedkin Group were in attendance following the completion of the club’s takeover on Thursday.
They were treated to a gritty display from the team, who built on last weekend's goalless draw at Arsenal with another resilient defensive performance, securing their seventh clean sheet of the season.
Sean Dyche will no doubt highlight their solid run of form – just two defeats in their last 12 matches – when speaking to the new owners. However, the bigger picture reveals a more concerning statistic: only three wins from 16 league games this season.
The draw edged Everton further from the relegation zone, but it could have been so much more given the opportunities they created. Jack Harrison came closest, but the winger is still searching for his first goal of the season after seeing his effort smartly saved by Robert Sánchez. Meanwhile, Iliman Ndiaye somehow failed to convert from close range late on.
December began with a humbling 4-0 defeat at Manchester United, but Everton have responded impressively with three consecutive clean sheets. They now head to Manchester City on Thursday with renewed confidence.
Watch the highlights of the match in the video below
The footage is from the official Chelsea YouTube account.
The best reaction
Lewis W, a Chelsea fan, shared his thoughts: "It was a disappointing result, but we are still in a much better position compared to this time last season. Playing away at Everton can always be challenging, even when they aren't performing well, and this game proved that. They were determined and deserved their clean sheet.
"Chelsea fans remain confident about the coming months. The players are on a great run, and you can see they are full of confidence. They will keep pushing, and hopefully, the fans will have something to celebrate at the end of the campaign."
