A return to action for Tony Hibbert, recalled to defend against those speedy Chelsea attackers, with Phil Neville moving into the dreaded midfield role. No Saha or Anichebe again, so Tim Cahill is the nominal lone striker... or we're playing 4-6-0!
Cole nearly scored with the first Chelsea attack, Hibbert partially blocked his shot that Howard desperately palmed away. An early Arteta free-kick looked good but evaded everyone except Cech, with Cahill and Fellaini both being impeded. Neville also smacked in a good low shot to test him.
Some great play from Everton down the right saw Osman at the byeline with plenty of time to cross but Fellaini was backing away and his header lacked power. Everton had done reasonably well for the first 20 minutes but Chelsea were starting to stretch their legs, with the ball hitting the post but the move ruled offside.
The first and major flashpoint of thc game came on 35 minutes when John Terry lunged in ferociously, studs high, sending Osman flying through the air. With Goodison seething, referee Phil Dowd did the right thing and showed the dirty bastard a red card. Seconds later. Cahill managed to take out two Chelsea players but there was no real contact.
So, a perfect opportunity for Everton to take advantage, and perhaps go for something other than a draw. But could they break the habit of a lifetime under the negative Moyes and play a more expansive game against the would-be Premier League leaders? Surely Everton had not had a better chance in a long, long time to do something against one of the Sky 4?
To test that theory, Cahill won a good free kick in a really dangerous spot, and Lampard went in the book for complaining, while the Blues blood was running high. Cole was also booked for not retreating, but Arteta’s strike spun off the wall… Yobo doing well to get in a hard cross-shot that Cech saved.
Hibbert was having a stormer, making some excellent interceptions and playing as if his life depended on it. Great to see. But the crucial question was how Everton would perform in the second half, having held their own reasonably well in the first, with a real effort to play the ball on the ground and get some width.
But Scolari bought on Drogba and Ivanjovic after the break in an effort to maintain control, while Everton struggled for meaningful possession, with attacking moves a little laboured. But Hibbert did get an excellent cross in to Fellaini, who unfortunately headed it straight at Cech.
The pace of the game increased perceptibly as the raucous Goodison crowd got behind every promising attack as they plugged away at the resolute and virtually impregnable Chelsea defence (one goal conceded in EIGHT away victories). Yobo looked to have strained his hamstring, forcing Moyes to put in Baines on the hour mark.
Osman did very well to win a corner from a lost cause, but his floated cross was again caught by Cech, who remained untroubled in the Chelsea goal, despite a superb cross from Arteta grassing off Fellaini’s mop.
Drogba fell into Jags to win a dubious free-kick, Ballack getting a bizarre yellow card for questioning the distance of the Everton wall, after Phil Dowd paced it out and proved him wrong!!! More grist to a fantastic atmosphere under the Goodison floodlights.
Howard did a good impression of Cech, confidently catching a rare Lampard corner as Everton continued to press, still goalless with 15 mins left. A good Arteta corner met by Lescott looped agonizingly close to Cech.
A cunning free-kick from Arteta eventually came to Baines, whose superb driven cross forced a stretched reverse back-heel from Fellaini that screwed inches wide of the far post. Arteta, though, wasted a good free kick with Chelsea on the edge of panic.
Some superb passing down the right saw the ball crossed in low by Fellaini, a great dummy from Osman set up Cahill whose shot was parried by Cech, as the ball rolled agonizingly to the line, Cech lunged for it as Pienaar, who was unfortunately offside, kicked it from beneath Cech and Ballack into the Chelsea net: no goal.
Everton seemed to have shot their bolt with that Herculean effort; they allowed Chelsea to push them back and threaten a late winner as the game moved into added time. The minutes ticked away and the draw that seemed the least Everton deserved was duly recorded. Why can’t we ever beat these bastards?
Michael Kenrick
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Lyndon Lloyd
May appear here later
Steve Flanagan
Author
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