Chelsea 1-1 Everton Everton win 4-3 on penalties FA Cup - Saturday 19 February 2011 - Stamford Bridge Nicolas Anelka and Ashley Cole both missed in a penalty shoot-out as Chelsea were unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup. Frank Lampard had put last season's Double winners 1-0 up in the first period of extra-time, but Leighton Baines equalised with an exquisite free-kick with just seconds remaining, after a needless foul by Branislav Ivanovic gave the stubborn visitors the chance to force a penalty shoot-out. Lampard and then a superb save from Petr Cech enabled the home side to take an early advantage, and Didier Drogba extended Chelsea's lead in the deciding face-off with an equally composed effort. Yet despite the best efforts of Michael Essien - who converted Chelsea's fourth spot-kick - both Nicolas Anelka and Ashley Cole missed; and Phil Neville hammered home the deciding penalty to dump Carlo Ancelotti's charges out of the competition. Everton were manful and demonstrated a magnificent resolve throughout, but Chelsea were particularly wasteful during normal time and will rue a handful of poor misses and the form of opposition goalkeeper Tim Howard, who thrice denied the Blues from close range. The visitors enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, and seemed to be motivated by a showing away at Bolton that was described by manager David Moyes as one of the worst in his nine-year tenure in the Goodison Park hot-seat. And whilst they enjoyed their fair share of fortune as they rode out a fierce onslaught on their goal during a second half dominated by the hosts, Everton almost stole the win in normal time as Marouane Fellaini found the net; albeit from an offside position. Howard had earlier foiled Florent Malouda with a brace of brave blocks, before he instinctively denied Lampard from point-blank range as the England midfielder looked certain to put Chelsea into the fifth round of the competition - and Lampard was equally as wasteful when he opted to chip the goalkeeper from inside the area when a driven effort would surely have led to a more productive outcome. Chelsea did hit the post early on as a Lampard delivery was deflected onto the woodwork by Phil Jagielka, but when the rebound was scooped well over by Blues skipper John Terry, there were early indications that this would be a long and gruelling afternoon for the West London side - who have still yet to win since their £75 million double signing of Fernando Torres and David Luiz. Both of those players were missing through ineligibility - and also, somewhat predictably, sorely missed. Instead of their arrivals proving to be the kick-start that Chelsea's faltering season desperately needed, the Blues have failed to win in three since - and a further blow has been struck as they have been unsuccessful in their bid to become only the third club to win three consecutive FA Cup trophies. With the Premier League well out of reach and Stamford Bridge witnessing two inglorious exits in domestic cup competitions this term, the lack of cutting edge possessed by the Blues suggests that Champions League success this season is merely a romantic thought; resembling a sole molecule of hope that Chelsea fans can cling on to through this troubled, "difficult moment." Further woe can be drawn from the fact they may also be five points behind Tottenham before the end of Tuesday night in a race to even secure top flight European football next campaign - further evidence of the incredible turnaround that has slowly undermined a season that began with such promise. This result against Everton will not have come as a surprise, and much of the anger amongst Chelsea supporters will be drawn from the likelihood of such a degrading defeat. Chelsea have not beaten Everton since the 2009 FA Cup final - and for the fourth time and five matches since, Chelsea have squandered a goal advantage over their Merseyside rivals; testament to the fact the Blues lack the ability to break down such stubborn opponents. The Blues were not without chances this afternoon, and should have had the game clinched well before Fellaini's dramatic late strike was chalked off correctly for offside. Lampard was uncharacteristically poor in front of goal and might have clinched the match ball with the opportunities that fell his way, whilst shots from the likes of Ramires, Essien and Drogba all flew narrowly wide. Ironically, Chelsea looked quite impressive going forward - until a point, at least. That point was the edge of the Everton penalty area, where any sense of creativity seemed to have been left behind in a vain attempt to blindly run forward and hope that some optimistic cross - just tossed into the six yard box - would be met by any player dressed in blue who had the common sense to gamble and at least try and convert a chance. That was the story of the afternoon, as a side that registered 13 shots on target could only muster a single goal to 'demonstrate' their dominance in possession and territory. Frankly, that is unacceptable for a side that allegedly boasts some of the world's foremost attacking talent. Even after Nicolas Anelka, a very late substitute, fired in a cross that saw Drogba chest the ball down and Lampard fire home from six yards saw Chelsea finally break their opponents down after 104 minutes of attacking impotency, there was still an air of inevitability that Everton would conjure something out of nothing. They had come close on a couple of occasions, though without truly forcing Petr Cech into any sort of athletic, last-ditch save, but when Branislav Ivanovic picked one fight too many as he unfairly felled the marauding Jagielka, you could almost envisage Baines effortlessly bending the ball into the corner of the net. He did not disappoint; leaving Cech stranded with a mixture of bewilderment and sheer helplessness, he gloriously glided the ball above the wall and into the postage stamp of the goal. From there, with the resulting penalty shoot-out to be taken in front of the buoyant Everton fans, there was very little doubt that they away side would compound a season of woe and misery for Carlo Ancelotti. Granted; Lampard, Cech and Drogba did put Chelsea in a healthy position early on in the spot-kick decider, but the way in which woeful misses by Anelka and Cole represented the club's mid-season capitulation could not have been more poetic. A home tie against Reading separates Everton from the last eight, just to rub it in a little bit more. Unacceptable and ultimately embarrassing, all Chelsea fans might as well accept that any minuscule sense of optimism they still entertain thanks to potential Champions League success should be abandoned now. We will be lucky to finish fourth. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chelsea (4-4-2): Cech, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry ©, Cole; Ramires, Lampard, Mikel (Essien 46), Malouda (Anelka 90); Kalou (Zhirkov 110), Drogba. Everton (4-2-3-1): Howard; Neville ©, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; Arteta, Fellaini; Coleman, Cahill (Bilyaletdinov 70), Osman (Heitinga 94); Beckford (Anichebe 80). The TalkChelsea.net man of the match was Everton's number 24, Tim Howard.
