Everton shamed by what Brentford did at Chelsea

Frank Lampard has moved to clarify his comments questioning whether his players possessed the b******* to compete but Brentford have gone and shown what this Everton side and so many of their predecessors over the Premier League era have been lacking by going and winning at Stamford Bridge. Not since Joe Royle’s very first away game on November 26, 1994 – a fixture that of course pre-dates the Blues’ last major trophy win in the FA Cup final at the end of the same season – have they collected three points away to Chelsea.

Baby D’s ‘Let Me Be Your Fantasy’ went to the top of the charts that day but it’s been fantasy football hoping that Everton might be able to give a bloodied nose, even in one-off encounters, to any of the Premier League big boys on their own turf for over 27 years since, which is frankly disgusting for a club of their size, history and stature within the game.

Despite all the good work that he produced over 11 years in charge at Goodison Park, steering a club that had finished in the top half of the table just once over the previous decade to nine top 10-placings, David Moyes – who faces his former employers with his West Ham United side on Sunday – never once won away against any of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United or Liverpool during his lengthy tenure, with an FA Cup penalty shoot-out success at Stamford Bridge the closest he got.

His successor, Roberto Martinez, topped that in his first season with the famous Bryan Oviedo-inspired 1-0 victory, ironically against Moyes’ Manchester United at Old Trafford, but results like that stick out because of their rarity, and neither the Catalan nor his successors have been able to end Everton’s Chelsea hoodoo. Long-running winless streaks away to