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Dogged Everton power past Chelsea

Everton 2 - 0 Chelsea

Match Summary

Everton have failed to win back-to-back games at Goodison Park all season long... so what better opportunity to turn that around than following a great victory over Manchester City with another win against declining force Chelsea? But hopes that new signing and goal hound Nikica Jelavic would make his Goodison debut were dashed by news of a stomach muscle strain that would keep him sidelined, with Jack Rodwell still troubled by is hamstring problem. And the other name missing from the teamsheet was super-sub Victor Anichebe.

Not much seemed to be happening when inside 5 mins Cahill's poke at the ball squirmed off Lampard and fell nicely for Steven Pienaar, bursting into the Chelsea area, taking it nicely on his chest and leathering it past Petr Cech into the roof of the Park End net! Welcome Home!

With a nice early goal, reminiscent of the 2009 Wembley Cup Final, would Everton try to to sit on or build on that lead? Neville tried his best to even things up soon after with a dreadful defensive header that went straight to Sturridge, who thankfully failed to convert.

Cech put a poor clearance straight to Donovan and he returned it with interest but Donovan's shot back in lacked sufficient invention and Cech saved it without being tested. Nervy stuff at the other end as a scrappy Chelsea attack saw a poor Baines clearance and Howard choosing another questionable punch that fell straight to Ramirez.

Some dreadful play among Donovan, Gibson and Neville down the right gave away attacking possession with frightening ease that put Everton under pressure again with a corner as an increasingly nervous home side struggled to get out of their own half, with Sturridge lashing a dangerous chance just over, thanks to a deflection off Neville that Chelsea wanted called a handball.

Another slicing move cut through he Everton defence far too easily, Mata with a clever cutback right into the path of Lampard whose shot incredibly screwed wide of Howard's goal. Pienaar was a breath of fresh air, always looking to play the ball forward, but his teammates (including Baines surprisingly) were not always on the same wavelegth.

But a lovely move saw them combine brilliantly with a Pienaar backheel and a great Baines pass into Cahill in front of Cech, but the aging Aussie was offside yet again to spoil the chance.

A typically clumsy Fellaini foul gave Chelsea a dangerous free-kick that was headed away well by Baines. Howard flapped at the ball as Neville got in his way. Baines fired in a tremendous free-kick and Cahill looked to get on the end of it but was offside again.

Meireles was booked for kicking Stracqualursi in the chest, and Stracq got a weak shot in off the follow-up from the free-kick but could not beat Cech. At the other end, Torres got a header in on goal but Howard saved it comfortably, Torres then demanding a penalty for nothing of consequence as Everton kept their lead into the break.

Chelsea tried to put pressure on Everton after the break but they resisted A great Pienaar run won a good free-kick that got Bosingwa booked but Baines put the ball poorly into the wall, winning a corner that threatened but came to nought.

A silly foul by Torres on Pienaar drew a very welcome yellow card. Pienaar, who could have gone to Chelsea a year ago, was the spark to better Everton play going forward but Stracqualursi's header was nowhere near strong enough.

By the hour-mark, Everton looked to have frustrated Chelsea and taken the sting out of any AVB half-time pep-talk, the boys in Blue getting forward more frequently and giving the crowd something to cheer despite the risk that a Chelsea attack would level the game.

Ivanovic reacted to a clever Donovan block and got the crowd up even more but escaped any real punishment from referee Mike Jones. Essien was replaced by Everton nemesis Malouda with 20 mins left while Moyes left well enough alone, as Neville won a 50-50 challenge that poleaxed Ashley Cole but Donovan picked up the balll and played forward nicely for Straqualursi who powered into the Chelsea area and drove his shot confidently in off Cech to send Goodison into raptures (and another priceless assist from Donovan.

Pienaar went off to a huge ovation, to be repalced by Ryston Drenthe, with 15 mins left, but his first touch was a horrible return pass to Meireles as AVB made three quick changes to pressure Everton in the last 10 minutes.

Howard pulled off a brave and vital save to deny Lukaku at the near post as Chelsea did their best to get something out of a game that was not going their way. With 5 mins left, started to play safety-first football from advanced positions, sending the ball all the way back to Howard rather than forcingthe play into the Chelsea area, and almost paying the price for such negative nonsense by handing possession to Chelsea in their own half and putting themselves under pressure.

Moyes switched out the almost invisible Gibson for Hibbert in the last two minutes, and then Duffy replaced goalscoring hero Denis Stracqualursi to give the crowd one penultimate rousing cheer to sting AVB's frigid ears. An excellent win for the hopefully resurgent Blues.

Everton: Howard; Neville, Heitinga, Distin, Baines; Donovan, Fellaini, Gibson (89' Hibbert), Pienaar (74' Drenthe); Cahill; Stracqualursi (90+2' Duffy).
Subs: Mucha, Gueye, Barkley, Vellios.

Quotes or other material sourced from ToffeeWeb Match Report Page

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