Everton 1 – 0 Chelsea

Gylfi Sigurdsson scores from the spot as Everton beat Chelsea 1 – 0. Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who hosted 2,000 fans for the first time this season, went ahead when Gylfi Sigurdsson tucked away from the spot following Edouard Mendy‘s foul on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Everton rewarded their returning fans with a much-needed victory at Goodison Park which ended Chelsea’s 17-game unbeaten run.

That woke up Frank Lampard’s side who then drew three saves from Jordan Pickford, one of which saw the goalkeeper brilliantly tip Reece James’ shot onto the post. Mason Mount also hit the woodwork for the visitors after 81 minutes, yet they struggled to find the fluidity which has made them potential title challengers this season.

That was in part down to some fine Everton defending, but Ancelotti’s side also had good chances, with Richarlison twice having shots saved and Yerry Mina wasting two headers.

Victory, without the injured James Rodriguez, ended a run of one win in seven games, and lifts them to seventh place in the table, while Chelsea remain third.

Everton fans give team timely lift
The last time Everton’s fans saw their team in the flesh was back in March when they were thrashed 4-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

And having missed out on a start to the season which saw the Toffees top the table after five games, they were unable to see summer signing Rodriguez in action because of a calf injury.

But those lucky enough to get a ticket in the ballot were able to see the growing influence of top scorer Calvert-Lewin, who demonstrated his aerial presence by controlling a long ball with his head before being clattered by Mendy in the box. That allowed Sigurdsson to stroke his spot-kick home for his second goal of the season.

The Icelandic midfielder has been overshadowed by Rodriguez’s arrival in the summer and has found chances limited. But, wearing the captain’s armband, he took his opportunity to impress and teed up efforts for Richarlison and Yerry Mina, who were both wasteful.

Calvert-Lewin, who was a menace on the counter-attack, also won a second penalty when he was caught by Ben Chilwell, but the England striker was ruled offside in the build-up.

Everton’s problem in recent games has been their defending, which has not been helped by injuries to captain Seamus Coleman and Lucas Digne. Against Chelsea, their back four was comprised solely of centre-backs.

But after a mixed campaign, Pickford showed the watching supporters his capabilities by producing several saves in quick succession to deny James twice and Kurt Zouma. That seemed to boost the fans and the defence, who were under pressure for much of the second half and held out for a first clean sheet since the opening weekend of the season.

Source – BBC News