To use Sean Dyche’s own words from earlier this week in the aftermath of Everton’s takeover by American billionaires The Friedkin Group, he will be judged by the amount of wins he can get between now and when his contract is set to expire in the summer.
He knows he is on an unofficial trial period with the new bosses, who have given Dyche their full backing – and understands winning games is the currency of football.
But in recording back-to-back goalless draws against title challengers, the boss is proving his worth without wins.
After playing the patient game to leave north London with a clean sheet and point last Saturday against Arsenal, the Toffees went to the well again here and recorded another vital draw against in-form Chelsea.
If anything, Dyche – and the new custodians watching from the stands – will have departed the stadium with a hint of regret that they did not convert one into three points, with Jack Harrison and Iliman Ndiaye both missing huge second-half chances to score a winner.
But Everton will be delighted with this point, especially noting Chelsea had scored 26 goals in their eight games before this trip. Enzo Maresca has long insisted that his team are not in a title race – and this slip-up perhaps backed up his argument.
Chelsea were held to a goalless draw at Everton and missed the chance to go top of the table
Malo Gusto was denied by Jordan Pickford in the first half as the Blues threatened
Cole Palmer was kept quiet and struggled to carve out chances at Goodison Park
Chelsea were poor in an attacking sense, lacking in ideas and struggling to convert their masses of possession into chances. They needed Sanchez to bail them out at the other end several times, while Cole Palmer and Co struggled to really threaten.
This was Everton’s first home game since December 4 when they thrashed Wolves 4-0. Since then, they saw the Merseyside Derby postponed due to dangerous weather caused by Storm Darragh – and the forecast was not too much better ahead of this match.
Fans arrived at Goodison Park soaked and one was spotted being knocked over by a falling metal fence on Stanley Park. Luckily the gentleman was OK, got back to his feet and continued to walk with a spring in his step given this was the first game of the new era at the club.
The torrential downpour made it a true ‘welcome to Merseyside’ for representatives of The Friedkin Group, led by new executive chairman Marc Watts and other members of the owners’ London-based team.
And their presence led to a new sense of optimism for Evertonians, who have been dragged through the proverbial mud in the years of Farhad Moshiri’s ownership. They came into this match riding high on confidence that they could cause an upset.
Title-chasing Chelsea took a while to settle – maybe in part to do with the raucous and expectant atmosphere, perhaps due to weather. Everton, who fought like regimented soldiers to draw 0-0 at Arsenal last weekend with 23 per cent possession, were again set up to frustrate.
But they found their feet just before the half-hour mark and Nicolas Jackson was guilty of missing three chances in five minutes. First, with Chelsea’s first real sight of goal, Palmer teed him up only for Jordan Pickford to deny the Senegal striker from point-blank range.
In fairness, he was under strong pressure from stand-in captain James Tarkowski, who did his best to get under Jackson’s skin before he took the shot. With his next effort, Pickford again came out on top despite misjudging a through ball and nearly getting caught in no man’s land.
Jack Harrison squandered a golden opening with his low effort kept out by Robert Sanchez
Sanchez got down low to block with his body and prevent the visitors from falling behind
Tosin Adarabioyo made a crucial late block to stop Iliman Ndiaye’s goalbound effort
Tensions flared in the second half before the game petered out into a stalemate
Enzo Maresca’s side would have gone top with a win, but Liverpool are in action on Saturday
Pickford was helpless for the third chance, though, as an Enzo Fernandez corner evaded everyone in the area and Jackson, unmarked at the back post, could not hit the target from inside the six-yard box. A let-off for Everton, a gilt-edged chance gone for Chelsea.
But Chelsea’s sense of urgency seemed to dip after the break. For a team on such good form, clearly flowing with confidence before this match, they seemed to be unsure of themselves and attacked with a hint of trepidation.
All of a sudden, Everton were creating the most openings. Harrison had a glorious chance on 50 minutes, when Ndiaye picked him out at the back post but he shot straight at Robert Sanchez from six yards out, virtually the same spot Jackson missed from earlier.
Dyche is often criticised for a lack of substitutions but he made a triple change midway through the second half and one of them nearly made a goal with his first touch.
Napoli loanee Jesper Lindstrom was threaded through and looked to cut back a cross. Sanchez put his body on the line to palm the square ball out and then Tosin Adarabioyo followed it up with a brave block to deny a rebound effort from Ndiaye.
Chelsea were creating little to prove their title credentials at one end but showing significant steel at the other.
Maresca also used his bench and showed off the strength in depth at his disposal by sending on Noni Madueke and Christopher Nkunku. None of Chelsea’s front line were good enough here, though, with Palmer ineffective despite his best efforts.
Orel Mangala, the Everton midfielder, had two decent efforts from range though Sanchez was equal to them on both occasions. It hopefully paints the picture of this match with the fact Chelsea’s goalkeeper had a good shout for player of the match.
