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Everton 1-0 Chelsea: Sigurdsson penalty punishes Mendy’s mistake
Gylfi Sigurdsson converted from the point to punish a reckless challenge from Edouard Mendy when Everton defeated Chelsea in Merseyside.
Chelsea lost a chance to top the Premier League table when Gylfi Sigurdsson’s penalty secured Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti a 1-0 win over his former club.
Ancelotti endured a miserable return to Stamford Bridge last season with his current employers, Everton falling 4-0 in the capital.
However, he prevailed in a second meeting with Frank Lampard, who was part of the Chelsea team and achieved a national double with the Italian coach in the 2009-10 season.
The only goal of the match came in the 22nd minute thanks to an early Christmas present from Edouard Mendy, the goalkeeper unnecessarily charging at Dominic Calvert-Lewin as the forward tried to reach the end of his own play from Jordan Pickford’s long punt. .
Sigurdsson calmly rolled from the spot of his first league goal in 17 games to the delight of the 2,000 spectators inside Goodison Park.
Chelsea responded brilliantly by falling behind, Reece James hitting a post with a low drive that Pickford seemed to give it a light touch, while Kurt Zouma, who spent a season on loan at Everton early in his career, planted a closure. Direct rank attempt to England goalkeeper.
Richarlison couldn’t take advantage of a clear shot opportunity before the break for the hosts, slipping when he kicked the ball with his left foot to make life easier for Mendy.
Sigurdsson came close with a free kick early in the second half and then was denied the opportunity to take another penalty when a VAR control found Calvert-Lewin offside before being attacked by Ben Chilwell.
Still, one goal proved enough as Chelsea couldn’t find an equalizer, despite Lampard sending Tammy Abraham in place of the ineffective Kai Havertz to accompany Olivier Giroud to the top.
Mason Mount saw a free throw held by a post as Everton held firm, in the process securing a third straight home win over their opponents as they advanced to the top half.
FOOT. Great performance. Great victory.
THE TOFFEES !!!
1-0 #EVECHE pic.twitter.com/O6rNA3DoPY
– Everton (@Everton) December 12, 2020
What does that mean? Sweet hit for out of stock Toffees
Everton had stuttered after an excellent start to the 2020-21 season, winning just once in their previous seven league games after opening with four wins in a row.
Their cause was not helped by a shortage of wingers: Mason Holgate and Ben Godfrey did an admirable job on both sides of the excellent Michael Keane and Yerry Mina, in what was a wrestling display, as evidenced by they are only 28%. of possession. In fact, Chelsea failed to score an attempted goal in the entire second half.
Sigurdsson pulls the strings
The Icelandic international has scored more Premier League goals against Chelsea than any other team in the competition, and has also scored two goals against them while playing for Tottenham and Swansea.
The Everton captain created six chances for his teammates before breaking through in the final minutes, while no one else on the field created more than two.
In it forever?
Mendy had apparently solved the goalkeeper conundrum at Chelsea, conceding just two goals in seven league games before the trip to Merseyside. However, Lampard will have every reason to question why the Rennes signing felt the need to rush out and face Calvert-Lewin when the situation was under control.
Opta Key Statistics:
– Everton had 28% possession in this match, the lowest ever recorded in a single Premier League match they won (since 2003-04).
– This was Everton’s first clean sheet in the Premier League since opening day against Tottenham (1-0), with the Toffees having conceded in each of their last 10 before this.
– Chelsea failed to get a single shot on goal in the second half, and their last shot on goal came in the 28th minute courtesy of Zouma.
– This was Lampard’s second loss in 12 games as a manager against bosses in which he had previously played in all competitions (six wins and four draws), and the other was against Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham last season.
– Chelsea suffered their first away loss in the Premier League of the season (3 wins and 2 draws), and their last two losses on the road came in Merseyside (also 5-3 to Liverpool in July).
Whats Next?
Chelsea are back on tour for a full round of Premier League matches midweek, traveling to the Wolves on Tuesday. Everton have one more day to recover before visiting Leicester City.
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