That’s it for tonight’s blog. I’ll leave you with Andy Hunter’s match report from Goodison Park. Goodnight!
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The 2,000 fans at Goodison Park roar with delight at the final whistle. That’s a rousing victory for Everton, who defended with intelligence and courage throughout. Gylfi Sigurdsson’s lazy penalty, won by the relentless Dominic Calvert-Lewin, settled the match. And though Chelsea had most of the ball - 72 per cent - they missed the wit and penetration of the injured Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic. Jordan Pickford made one outstanding save from Reece James; that aside, his work was fairly routine.
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Full time: Everton 1-0 Chelsea
Peep peep!
90+4 min Calvert-Lewin has been immense tonight.
90+4 min Pickford comes off his line to make a confident claim. Everton are 90 seconds away from a brilliant win.
90+3 min Chelsea are now playing a kind of 3-0-7 formation.
90+1 min Andre Gomes cleverly wins a corner at the other end. Everton take it short, with nobody in the penalty area, and waste a few seconds before losing the ball.
90 min Five minutes of added time. Mount’s corner is punched away by Pickford.
90 min Chilwell wins a corner off Holgate...
90 min Another change for Everton: Richarlison off, Jonjoe Kenny on.
89 min After a long spell of Chelsea possession, Zouma flips a wretched pass straight out of play.
88 min One corner leads to another, and nothing comes of that one either.
87 min Richarlison wastes a bit more time by winning a corner for Everton. Whatever happens in the last few minutes, the Everton players have left nothing out there tonight.
85 min Another Everton change: Tom Davies replaces Alex Iwobi.
84 min: Chance for Chelsea! Werner’s fast low cross from the right is smashed over at the near post by Giroud. That was a chance, though he had to take it quickly with Mina sliding in.
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83 min And Everton bring on Andre Gomes for the goalscorer Gylfi Sigurdsson.
82 min Chelsea bring on Billy Gilmour for Mateo Kovacic.
81 min: Mount hits the post! It was an excellent free-kick, whipped towards the far side of the goal as Pickford moved presumptuously in the other direction. He tried to dive back to his left but was nowhere near the ball when it thumped off the outside of the post.
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81 min The free-kick is a little bit to the left of centre; James, Mount and Chilwell are over it...
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80 min James is fouled (sic) 22 yards from goal by Doucoure, who is booked. This is a chance for Chelsea.
79 min Mount’s cross is put behind by Keane, who has made umpteen near-post interceptions. Mount’s deep corner is headed away by Mina.
77 min Iwobi’s low cross is just too far in front of Doucoure. Everton seem to have found a second wind.
76 min Calvert-Lewin, near the halfway line, smacks an excellent ball into Richarlison. He thighs it into the space behind the defence, but the covering James shows superb pace to get back and clear.
73 min Chelsea are really missing Hakim Ziyech’s can-opener of a left foot.
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72 min Allan goes down holding his face after running into the back of Reece James. The referee Jon Moss ignores him.
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71 min Richarlison is down after an off-the-ball incident with Giroud. There wasn’t much in it: a frustrated Giroud shoved Richarlison, who took the opportunity to waste a few seconds.
69 min Werner, playing on the right now, beats Allan with ease but his cross is cleared at the near post by Keane.
68 min Chelsea make their first chance: Tammy Abraham is on for the disappointing Kai Havertz.
68 min Iwobi plays an excellent give-and-go with Holgate, only to make a balls of a relatively routine cross.
65 min Thiago is booked for a foul on Calvert-Lewin, who has troubled him all night. Duncan Ferguson must absolutely love what Calvert-Lewin has done in the past year or so.
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NO PENALTY Calvert-Lewin was clearly offside.
Iwobi played Calvert-Lewin through on the right. He cut into the area, collided with Chilwell and went over. It was quite a soft decision anyway - but it looks like he was offside.
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63 min: PENALTY TO EVERTON!
But there might be an offside in the build-up.
59 min Reece James is booked for a lunging tackle on Allan.
57 min Everton are working incredibly hard without the ball. So far it’s been a classic underdog performance, the type we saw so often at Goodison Park under David Moyes.
56 min Duncan Ferguson is barking in Carlo Ancelotti’s ear, presumably asking if he can come on himself.
54 min Sigurdsson whips a free-kick just over the bar from 25 yards. Mendy seemed very relaxed about the situation, but it wasn’t far away.
53 min Sigurdsson’s excellent deep cross is headed over by the stretching Mina. Calvert-Lewin was waiting behind him in a far better position. Moments later, Calvert-Lewin has a shot blocked.
51 min Havertz has a shot blocked by Mina. Everton break through Richarlison, whose disguised shot through the legs of Zouma is pushed away well by the falling Mendy.
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51 min Mount’s corner is headed away by Iwobi. It’s been all Chelsea since half-time.
50 min Giroud stands up a good cross that is headed behind by Holgate.
48 min “Good to hear Leon Osman praise Jordan Pickford, who has been Everton’s best player since Robin Olson was signed,” says Gary Naylor. “Steve McManaman can’t wait to criticise him - but what do you expect? I don’t think we’ll be hearing Tim Cahill as a co-commentator on a Liverpool match any time soon.”
Pickford has Solskjaer’s disease, which means he can no longer be judged rationally or failure. I’m not his biggest fan, but that save from James was quite brilliant.
47 min: Good effort from Mount! Thiago’s straight ball into the area was punched away by Pickford near the penalty spot. The ball came to Kante, who moved it across to Mount. He flipped a clever first-time chip over the backpedalling Pickford and onto the roof of the net.
46 min Peep peep! Everton begin the second half.
“Completely against the run of play but I’ll take it,” says Mary Waltz. “Sometimes lucky is better then good.”
Half-time reading
Half time: Everton 1-0 Chelsea
Peep peep! Everton lead through an insouciant penalty from Gylfi Sigurdsson, awarded after Edouard Mendy flattened the swashbuckling Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Chelsea have had almost 70 per cent of the possession, and Jordan Pickford did brilliantly to push Reece James’ deflected shot onto the post, but Everton’s defending has been admirably resilient.
45+2 min Iwobi’s low cross is screwed wide by Sigurdsson, in front of the near post. Kante has been booked for a late tackle on Allan just before that.
44 min Reece James has been a constant threat down the right. He finds Kovacic, whose cross is headed away well by Keane. Everton need half-time; it’s all Chelsea.
41 min Pickford is down after colliding with Mina, who was pushed into him by Mount. I don’t think the referee gave a foul; Mount should probably have been booked.
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40 min: Chance for Richarlison! Everton almost make it 2-0 on the break. Sigurdsson angles a first-time pass to put Richarlison through in the inside-left channel. He moves to the edge of the area and hits a low left-footed shot that is pushed away by the falling Mendy. I think Richarlison slipped as he took the shot; either way, it wasn’t the greatest effort.
39 min Chelsea don’t have as many attacking options as usual on the bench. Tammy Abraham and the teenager Faustino Anjorin are the main ones.
37 min Kovacic’s low cross towards Werner is shinned over his own bar by Holgate. The referee gives a goalkick.
36 min James’ deep cross is just too high for Werner at the far post.
34 min Now Pickford has injured himself. He slipped before booting a backpass from Godfrey down the field, and now he’s holding his left side. It looks like he’s going to continue.
34 min He’s fine.
33 min There’s a break in play while Yerry Mina receives treatment. Fair play, I’d forgotten he was on the pitch.
32 min Everton break from a Chelsea free-kick, but Keane overhits his long pass to Calvert-Lewin. That was a chance because there was nobody within 10 yards of Calvert-Lewin.
31 min There’s an increasing urgency about Chelsea, who look affronted at going behind.
29 min Reece James is lucky not to be booked for a poor tackle on Godfrey.
28 min Another chance for Chelsea! Havertz’s deep free-kick is headed down by Giroud to Zouna, whose snapshot from eight yards is straight at Pickford.
26 min: James hits the post! The resulting corner is headed away to the edge of the area, where James runs round the ball and hits a deflected shot that is pushed onto the inside of the post by Pickford! That’s a brilliant save. It was a barely perceptible touch, a rare moment of unobtrusive excellence from the oft maligned Pickford. The ball spun all the way across goal and out for a corner on the other side.
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25 min James’ long-range free-kick is pushed away by the diving Pickford. A comfortable enough save, though it was a good strike.
24 min Richarlison is booked for a foul on Reece James. He may have injured himself in the process as well.
GOAL! Everton 1-0 Chelsea (Sigurdsson 22)
Sigurdsson scores with rare nonchalance! He sat Mendy down and passed the ball slowly in the other direction.
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Calvert-Lewin headed Pickford’s long kick into the penalty area, chased it himself and knocked the ball round Mendy, who was committed and took him out.
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PENALTY TO EVERTON! Mendy flattens Calvert-Lewin needlessly, and Everton have a penalty.
19 min Mendy, like Chris the sheep, is fine.
18 min Mendy lands awkwardly after coming over Reece James to claim Sigurdsson’s free-kick. There’s a break in play while he receives treatment.
17 min “Kante is scary good,” says Mary Waltz. “Sheesh.”
This season is the best I’ve seen him play since Chelsea last won the title. If he stays fit, they could win the league again; if not, no chance.
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16 min Crikey, Chelsea have had 78 per cent of the possession. I didn’t realise they were that dominant.
15 min Nothing much to report. Chelsea are dominating possession; Everton have defended well so far.
12 min James fires a good low cross into Werner, who tries to make space for the shot but is crowded out.
9 min Mina heads a corner over the bar. He was under plenty of pressure, so it wasn’t much more than a quarter chance.
8 min The 2,000 supporters are making a decent noise, especially when there’s a 50/50. The atmosphere at this game last season, when Everton won 3-1 under the temporary management of Duncan Ferguson, was spectacular.
6 min A half chance for Everton. Richarlison plays a nice give-and-go with Sigurdsson, only to hit a tame shot straight at Mendy from 12 yards.
5 min Chelsea have made a confident start, and look like a team that are unbeaten in 17 matches.
2 min Godfrey makes an excellent block tackle on James, who was in the act of shooting after a reverse pass from Havertz. It wasn’t a great pass from Havertz, in truth, and that gave Godfrey enough of a chance to make the block.
2 min Everton are indeed playing with a back four.
1 min Peep peep! The 2,000 fans roar as Chelsea get the match underway.
“It’s not a must-win situation for Everton but it is a must-compete,” says Mary Waltz. “I don’t know if they can win without James but they have to show their owner that all the cash he is splashing is not going to waste. COYB.”
“Four centre-backs and, without the energy of Seamus Coleman and the killer passes of James Rodriguez and Lucas Digne, the only change of pace in the side comes from Richarlison’s runs,” weeps Gary Naylor. “Everton will have to make the set pieces count tonight, or we might hear what 2000 people whistling sounds like.”
Pre-match reading
The Manchester derby ended 0-0, and it was a bit of a stinker.
Team news
James Rodriguez is out with a calf injury for Everton, while Chelsea are without the injured trio of Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi. Everton may play a back three, with Ben Godfrey and Alex Iwobi as wing-backs, though I think Carlo Ancelotti might return to a back four.
Everton (possible 4-2-3-1) Pickford; Holgate, Mina, Keane, Godfrey; Doucoure, Allan; Iwobi, Sigurdsson, Richarlison; Calvert-Lewin.
Substitutes: Olsen, Kenny, Gomes, Davies, Tosun, Bernard, Gordon.
Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Mendy; James, Zouma, Thiago, Chilwell; Kovacic, Kante, Mount; Havertz, Giroud, Werner.
Substitutes: Kepa, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Gilmour, Anjorin, Abraham.
Referee Jon Moss.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Everton v Chelsea from Goodison Park. It’s still too early to say whether Chelsea are serious title contenders, but a win here would put them top of the Premier League overnight and there are literally 19 worse places to be.
They will be strongish favourites against a Everton side that has lost their way since winning the first seven games of the season in all competitions. At that stage they were being talked about as outsiders in the title race; one win in the last seven has seen to that. And yet, if Everton win tonight they will move within two points of Chelsea.
In short, nobody knows anything, not in 2020-21. But it’ll be fun finding out.
Kick off 8pm.
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