Chelsea miss out on top spot after being held to goalless draw at Everton

Chelsea squandered the chance to put pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool as they were held to a goalless draw by Everton at Goodison Park.

Sean Dyche’s side became the first team since Newcastle in October to prevent the Londoners from scoring – and only the third this season – and that brought to an end an eight-match winning run.

While there was no immediate new owner bounce for the Toffees, watched by incoming executive chairman Marc Watts and other representatives of The Freidkin Group after Thursday’s takeover, this was a continuation of the progress which has brought a degree of stability on the pitch.

Scoreless draw.#CFC | #EVECHE pic.twitter.com/qwNlAVIJlt

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 22, 2024

Everton have lost only two of the last 12, but have only recorded three wins and it is evident where improvements need to be made, although that is unlikely to be rectified in the January transfer window regardless of the new ownership.

An in-form Chelsea team, who had a chance to go top of the table for the first time in three years, were strangely subdued and even the usually-reliable Cole Palmer could not find a way through the hosts’ blockade.

Everton have had plenty of practice, with last weekend’s goalless draw at Arsenal ideal preparation for nullifying a team which had scored 26 goals in their last eight games.

A seventh clean sheet in the last 10 outings showed Dyche, whose future remains up for debate with his contract expiring in the summer, has at least succeeded in getting things right at one end of the pitch.

Part of that was due to Everton’s organisation and the continued excellence of Jordan Pickford, whose instinctive close-range save from Nicolas Jackson midway through the first half was