The immediate aim of the Friedkin Group is to restore stability to Everton after their takeover on Thursday. In some ways, Sean Dyche has beaten his new employers to it. High-flying Chelsea became the latest team to run into a royal blue wall and out of ideas as they lost valuable ground in the title race.
Enzo Maresca declared himself content with a point at a ground where Chelsea had lost on five of their previous six visits, despite the end of an eight-match winning run in all competitions. The Chelsea head coach has insisted all along that his young side lack the experience and pedigree to sustain a title challenge with Liverpool. His argument gained credence here but Everton, he asserted, provided a valuable learning curve for a team that failed to score in a Premier League game for the first time since the opening day.
“I am absolutely happy,” Maresca said. “I just said to the players I am happier today than I was after the Brentford game. The reason is I was quite worried about this game: tricky game, tricky stadium, tricky team. Defensively they are top, one of the five best teams in Europe in terms of clean sheets, so you struggle to create chances against them. You have to learn how to play different games: long ball, second ball, set pieces. Football is not only just how good you play on the ball, it is how you defend and how you deal with that. I am very proud today and very happy.”
Everton’s era under TFG started as Farhad Moshiri’s tenure had ended, with a goalless draw against a London club with designs on the top of the Premier League. Having conceded 13 goals in the opening four league matches, Dyche’s side have kept five clean sheets in the past six games, seven in the past 10, and three in succession. It is not pretty and until draws are converted into victories – and Everton have drawn seven of their past 12 games – Dyche will continue to look over his shoulder. But he has rediscovered a stable platform for Everton to build on.
Both sides had chances to have taken maximum points – Nicolas Jackson for Chelsea in the first half, Jack Harrison and Iliman Ndiaye for Everton in the second – but neither manager complained at the outcome.
A TFG delegation led by the president, Marc Watts, Everton’s new executive chairman, was present to see the club’s fresh start kick off in atrocious conditions. There was no respite on the pitch until Chelsea constructed their first meaningful attack after 26 minutes.
Dyche’s team offered control but little creativity, as is often the case, while the visitors struggled to stretch a compact Everton defence. Idrissa Gueye was an added complication for Chelsea, sticking close to Cole Palmer throughout as Dyche sought to contain the playmaker who destroyed his side at Stamford Bridge last season.
Chelsea’s patience was almost rewarded when Moisés Caicedo and Pedro Neto combined to finally release Palmer down Everton’s left. Jackson connected powerfully with Palmer’s low centre only for Jordan Pickford to save with his legs. Malo Gusto, switched to left-back in the absence of the suspended Marc Cucurella, headed over from the rebound.
That breakaway started a dominant spell for Maresca’s team but clearcut opportunities remained scarce. Jackson headed against a post when Axel Disasi flicked on an Enzo Fernández corner. The ball rebounded towards Gusto, whose shot deflected wide via a slight touch off Pickford. It was fortunate for the Everton goalkeeper that he made contact with the ball having launched himself into the challenge. He would have been in serious trouble otherwise.
Pickford’s opposite number, Robert Sánchez, was tested only once before the break, tipping away an Orel Mangala drive that was heading for the bottom corner after Everton broke through Ndiaye and Abdoulaye Doucouré.
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A series of petty confrontations – Levi Colwill and Pickford, James Tarkowski and Jackson, Tarkowski and Fernández, Tarkowski and Disasi – interrupted the momentum of an uneventful contest. Chelsea at least performed with greater urgency in the second half, but not the guile or cutting edge required of a team seeking to go top of the Premier League, however briefly. The best opening fell to Everton’s Jack Harrison when found unmarked inside the Chelsea penalty area by Ndiaye’s clever cross. Harrison had time to control and pick his spot, but was unable to beat Sánchez from close range.
Everton created another excellent chance to break the deadlock when two substitutes, Beto and Jesper Lindstrøm, combined with Mangala to pierce the Chelsea defence. Sánchez diverted Lindstrøm’s low shot into the path of Ndiaye, who appeared certain to convert until Tosin Adarabioyo produced a vital block on his goalbound shot.
“It was a fair result and a good point against a very good team,” Dyche said. “I’m pleased with the mentality we are showing. There has been a lot of noise outside the club and that can affect people but I don’t think it has here.”
Source: theguardian.com
