It’s been 24 years since Everton have tasted the success of a league win away at Chelsea and they’ll have to wait another year before trying to break that dreadful run.
The two sides played out a nil-nil draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon in a combative 90 minutes that could have seen either team nick the win.
Marco Silva’s men went toe-to-toe with Maurizio Sarri’s unbeaten Chelsea and bar a hair-raising spell in the second-half where the hosts hit the woodwork twice and made Jordan Pickford work for his clean sheet, they looked value for money.
Pickford denied two of Chelsea’s better chances with handy saves before being able to call upon his woodwork to do the work for him.
Like they did at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, previous Everton teams would have wilted and ultimately collapsed but in his short time at Goodison Park, Silva has instilled a resilience to his side.
Yerry Mina, making his full debut for the club, stood strong alongside a rejuvenated Michael Keane and kept a potent Chelsea attack at bay. It was the first home game under Sarri in which the Blues have failed to score.
Mina’s fellow Barcelona castoffs Lucas Digne and Andre Gomes earned Man of the Match shouts with the French defender, who has made the left-back position his own at Everton, coming out on top in that battle by first keeping Willian quiet and then doing a similar job on substitute Pedro.
Combative and scrappy first-half keeps scores level
The Toffees stood strong in a scrappy first-half that saw both sides go close with great chances.
Bernard had Everton’s best chance after his volleyed attempt from the edge of the Chelsea 18-yard box flashed just wide of Kepa Arrizabalaga’s post.
It was then the turn of Marcos Alonso to go close from a set-piece. A well-worked routine from a free-kick saw the Spaniard wriggle away from the Everton defence and into an unmarked few yards of his space.
His fierce volleyed effort was stopped well by Pickford as Silva’s men allowed the hosts to grow into the half.
Yet, despite a handful of good chances for both teams, it was a first-half noted more for the amount of tackles and bookings handed out by referee Kevin Friend.
Five players found themselves in Friend’s notebook for a number of different fouls across the first 45 minutes.
Toffees hold their ground for a point
Sarri’s Blues could have opened the scoring inside the first 90 seconds of the second-half after their long-ball kick-off routine forced Pickford into a smart save.
It set the tone for the second period as Chelsea went close with each chance.
Willian flashed a chance just wide, as did Eden Hazard, before Alonso hit Pickford’s far-post with the goalkeeper at full stretch and beaten.
Everton had chances of their own with Gylfi Sigurdsson forcing Kepa into a save with a wicked effort from just outside the Chelsea area.
The Toffees had one of their best chances in recent years to snap their dreadful streak at Stamford Bridge but will review this as a hard-earned but deserved point during their international break video review.
Chelsea and Sarri may have extended their unbeaten run to a record-breaking 12 games but will look back on this game as a missed opportunity.