Chelsea 1 Everton 0: match report

Never mind Jose Mourinho’s young horses, it was a pair of old nags that won Chelsea the game at the death and kept them at the top of the Premier League table. With three minutes of stoppage time already elapsed and the score at 0-0, Frank Lampard swung in a free kick from the edge of the Everton area which appeared to be floating beyond the visitors’ obdurate back line. But John Terry is not one to surrender lost causes and he hared after the ball, galloping from an onside position to stab it home past Tim Howard. Cue delirium among a Stamford Bridge crowd that had largely given up hope of securing three points. Continue.

“We can talk about lucky, but the boys chased that,” said a clearly relieved Jose Mourinho. “I feel sorry for them [Everton], but we were the team which was trying to win.”

It was a lesson in staying the course. For 90 minutes it had looked as if Roberto Martínez’s shrewd tactics had negated the strengths which have been Chelsea’s hallmark under Mourinho. Across the course of normal time, Everton had matched everything the home side could deliver. Their vaunted midfield three, the wellspring of so much initiative this season, were kept in check by the muscular presence of Gareth Barry and James McCarthy. Up front Samuel Eto’o and then Fernando Torres demonstrated quite how urgent is the need for Mourinho to find a more potent attacking force. But the good news for the manager is that behind them, the old boys kept on pressing, kept on believing, kept on trying. And eventually they got their reward when the captain arrived in the right place at the right time.

“I don’t want to say it’s just John, it’s the team,” said Mourinho. “It’s John and [César] Azpilicueta, [Gary] Cahill, Frank, all of them.”

For Martínez, the disappointment was tempered by the manner in which his side played.

“That’s where we are,” he said. “But I’m excited about what’s ahead of us. In the short term, the scoreline is what matters, but looking ahead the performance is exactly what we needed.”
His measured response was at odds with that of his captain Phil Jagielka. The England man, who had capped a superb game by clearing the ball with a René Higuita-style scorpion kick during the first half, heatedly complained to the referee Lee Probert about the award of the free kick which led to the goal. He was insistent that the substitute Ramires had been artful in its pursuit. And slow-motion replays suggested the Brazilian had gone down with an ease which was eerily reminiscent of his tumble in the last second to win a face-saving penalty against West Bromwich Albion at the Bridge in November.
“It is very soft,” said Martínez of the award. “But that happens in the game. It is a free kick for a home team with an incredible know-how of how to get these decisions. You look at the record Chelsea has at home, it is more than just playing well every week.”
The match had begun with disappointment. The home crowd were precluded from the sight of the tallest player in Premier League history stepping out on the Bridge pitch as Everton’s 6ft 7in Lacina Traoré pulled his hamstring in the warm-up. His replacement Steven Naismith provided a more mobile if less immediately identifiable target.
The absence of the giant forward did not seem to diminish Everton ambitions. With everything creative as always coming down their left hand side, the visitors spent much of the first half in the ascendancy. Leighton Baines and Steven Pienaar exchanged quick, incisive passing before the England man produced a swirling cross which Terry headed away just as Seamus Coleman arrived unnoticed ready to pounce. Then Leon Osman made Petr Cech stretch with a searing shot from the edge of the area.
At half time Jose Mourinho brought on Ramires for Oscar, determined to counter Everton’s midfield power. And his players, who he sent out onto the pitch well before their opponents, had clearly listened to his orders to attack with more conviction. A couple of corners in quick succession were scrambled away before Cahill was brought down on the edge of the area by Barry. As the crowd chanted Lampard’s name in anticipation of a trademark shot, Willian stepped in and put the ball well over Howard’s bar.
But Chelsea were, slowly, inevitably, gaining more of the territory. Lampard and the strong running Nemanja Matic began to attack the heart of the Everton defence. And Howard kept his side in the game with an athletic double save from Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic.
Then Mourinho brought Torres on for Willian. The crowd appeared to think this might be the breakthrough tactical switch, chanting the substitute’s name with an enthusiasm at variance with his performance this season. Indeed, the Spaniard’s principal contribution to memory was playing the fall guy, being haplessly dummied by a delicious Baines dragback. Certainly he would rather forget a couple of shots which both went so far wide they were practically in Earl’s Court.
His team-mates were not to be easily diverted, however. Throughout the last ten minutes, Chelsea pounded away for a winner. André Schürrle, on as substitute for Eto’o, put the ball over the bar; a Lampard free kick was scrambled clear; Ramires drilled a promising shot just wide. And then, just as Everton’s backline, bravely led by Jagielka, looked as if it might hold out, the old boys took control.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Cech 7; Ivanovic 6, Cahill 7, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 8; Matic 7, Lampard 7; Willian 6 (Torres 62), Oscar 5 (Ramires 46), Hazard 6; Eto’o 5 (Schürrle 69)
Subs Schwarzer, Cole, Salah, Ba.
Booked Oscar.
Everton (4-2-3-1) Howard 7; Coleman 6, Distin 7, Jagielka 8, Baines 7; Barry 7, McCarthy 7; Mirallas 5 (Deulofeu 75), Osman 6 (Barkley 63), Pienaar 6 (McGeady 80); Naismith 5
Subs Robles, Hibbert, Garbutt, Stones.
Booked Barry, Baines.
Referee Lee Probert (Gloucs).