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Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti hugged his assistants to celebrate a first home win in more than two months, while the current janitor surveyed a dejected scene at Goodison Park.
Frank Lampard’s players, almost a man, fell to their knees when the final whistle sounded for their first loss in 18 games. The Premier League summit had been in sight again, but a strong and energetic display from Everton kept it out of reach.
Gylfi Sigurdsson’s terrific first-half penalty, awarded after goalkeeper Édouard Mendy crushed the relentless Dominic Calvert-Lewin, condemning Chelsea to a third straight loss at Everton and a first loss in any competition since the second weekend of the Bell.
The visitors dominated possession and hit the wood twice, but this was not a performance to strengthen conversations about title aspirations. Without the injured Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi, Chelsea lacked the invention and penetration to damage an Everton defense that belied their makeshift composition to keep a clean sheet from the first weekend of the season.
Ancelotti hugged his son, Davide, and Duncan Ferguson at the final whistle as they savored just a second win in eight games.
“I keep reading that we have the strongest squad in the Premier League,” reflected Lampard. “I just don’t understand that. The teams around us have won the Premier League and the Champions League and have experienced players who score 30 goals per season.
“We have players who have won championships but we are a young squad and a work in progress. Nights like this can happen. I don’t like it, but they can happen. “
The fierce endorsement of the 2,000 Evertonians within Goodison, who greeted the Z cars The subject with a tumultuous roar and made a noticeable noise throughout, played its part in a home display that combined defiance with power on the counter. Lampard’s side started off brilliantly, with Kai Havertz and Reece James purposely combining on the right.
The visitors controlled possession with a confidence commensurate with their recent unbeaten streak, but Everton looked dangerous whenever they put pressure on the Chelsea defense. Alex Iwobi was particularly sharp on the right wing. An all-center line of defense from Mason Holgate, Yerry Mina, Michael Keane and Ben Godfrey, a right foot that replaced the left back, was outstanding throughout.
“We won with spirit tonight, not with the quality of our game,” admitted Ancelotti. “We didn’t have the ball as often as we wanted, but we defended very well.”
Mendy needed treatment when he fell heavily after claiming a Sigurdsson free throw and landed on top of James.
Three minutes later, and perhaps still feeling the effects, he conceded a late-tackle penalty to Calvert-Lewin, though nothing should be taken away from the role of the Everton center forward.
Calvert-Lewin initially beat Thiago Silva in the air when challenged for a punt by Jordan Pickford. The forward was quicker on the second ball than the veteran defender and Mendy controlled it. The VAR was not required to confirm the immediate award of a penalty by referee Jonathan Moss and Sigurdsson, watching Mendy the entire time, sent the keeper the wrong way with an indifferent point shot.
Chelsea almost answered immediately. Having put Pickford to the test with a curly free throw, James moved closer when the resulting corner fell on his way 25 yards from goal. The right-back connected perfectly only to have his unit hit the inside of the near post through a slight deflection from Abdoulaye Doucouré and the cannon crossed the face of Pickford’s goal.
Richarlison came close to extending Everton’s lead on either side of the interval when he was released at halftime by the increasingly influential Sigurdsson.
A superb ball for the first time since number 10 sent the Brazilian into goal, but Mendy lived up to his loss. Early in the second half, from another weighted pass from the Everton captain in the evening, Richarlison ran up and disguised his shot through Kurt Zouma’s legs. Mendy produced a superb full-length stop to deny the striker once again.
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Moss awarded Everton a second penalty when Ben Chilwell blocked Calvert-Lewin as he crossed the area. However, the referee’s decision was overruled by the VAR, as Calvert-Lewin was offside when he held onto Iwobi’s pass in preparation, though his verdict came after Richarlison petulantly demanded to remove Sigurdsson’s penalty.
Chelsea hit the wood a second time when Mason Mount beat Pickford with an angled free kick only for the attempt to hit the base of a post with the goalie beaten. The visitors pressed relentlessly for a draw but Everton’s resistance brought them to their knees.
