Everton 0-0 Chelsea F.C.
December 22 2008, Premier League, Goodison Park, Merseyside
John Terry was dismissed as Chelsea's brilliant away run in the Premier League was halted by Everton. With the chance to go above Liverpool after Rafa Benitez' side had drawn 1-1 with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, all eyes were on Luiz Felipe Scolari and his Chelsea side who were offered the chance to go above their rivals in the hunt for the Premier League title. However, in a match that saw the league's worst home record face off against the side with a 100% success rate on their travels, many could be forgiven for thinking that this game was a foregone conclusion.
It was all going so well for Chelsea, who were successfully holding their opponents at bay until Phil Dowd, a referee capable of mind-boggling decisions that even Graham Poll would be proud of turned the screw. The first action of the referee was to award Everton two goal kicks when the away side should have quite clearly been awarded corners, before his dismissal of John Terry added insult to injury for the second-placed team. A mis-timed, genuine attempt to win a ball in the opponent's half of the field, which saw only one foot raised when contact was made with the ball saw the England captain dismissed, and the look of absolute horror on the face of the Chelsea skipper said it all. Dowd had ruined an intriguing encounter between two sides in the top half of the table and instead made it an Everton attacking showcase.
Starting with the same team that had battled from 1-0 down to draw at home with West Ham, many Chelsea fans would have been relieved to see this fixture being played away from Stamford Bridge. However, the lack of Didier Drogba in the starting eleven certainly raised several eyebrows, and with Everton lacking any recognised strikers of their own in their squad, Scolari may have been guilty of making the wrong choice before kick off.
The game started positively for Chelsea, with Ashley Cole demonstrating his ability to attack. Launching a screaming left-footed half-volley from the edge of the area, Cole forced a decent save from ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard, who did well to palm the ball behind for a fruitless corner. However, the home side were not ready to let Chelsea steam to victory as they had done recently against Bolton, and showed signs of resilience in the form of a number of half-chances that saw Petr Cech called into action.
The Czech first calmly collected a low cross from Arteta, whose whipped delivery dipped into the arms of the Chelsea goalkeeper, before comfortably collecting Phil Neville's stinging thirty yard drive by diving to his left. Later saving from Marouane Fellaini, who could only head straight at the orange-jerseyed goalkeeper, Cech had certainly earned his money, even with only a dozen minutes on the clock.
It had been a rampant start to the game which chances falling to both sides, with Lampard and Joe Cole combining quite brilliantly to tee up the former, but Chelsea's vice-captain could only watch on as he drove over. Joe Cole had a shot himself that fizzed wide of the post, before Anelka - from an off-side position - hit the post with a deft flick that would have been ruled out had it crept over the line.
Enter Phil Dowd. A red card for John Terry, despite an obvious attempt to win the ball, followed by cautions for Lampard and Ashley Cole as the two prepared to defend an Everton free kick. Admittedly Lampard had spoken out of term, but Cole was merely trying to position himself in the wall. Dowd would further cover himself in glory during the second half, when he booked Michael Ballack after the German had asked if the Everton wall was the full ten yards back. Respect the ref? When pigs can fly and the moon turns blue, I think.
The first couple of minutes of the second half were a sign of things to come as Everton penned the ten men of Chelsea back. Cech did excellently to make a good catch from a hanging Lescott cross, before easily clutching a weak header from Fellaini. The game was bogged down in the midfield for a period as the black-kitted rearguard of the visitors attempted to make a game of it, but the half-time introduction of Didier Drogba was doing little but stall several Everton attacks as the defence stayed back, cautious of the Ivorian. Branislav Ivanovic, a half-time replacement for Anelka - who had been totally ineffective - was in imperious form, and along with Ashley Cole, Mikel and Cech, was holding the Goodison Park side at bay.
Fellaini came the closest to score a legitimate goal with a deft flick that was inches wide of the post and agonisingly close to the sliding Leon Osman, before Everton had the ball in the back of net. Cech saved well from the initial shot but allowed the ball to slide under his body. The Czech, however, got two hands on the ball as Pienaar tried to follow up. The South African first kicked the ball out of Cech's hands before slotting home, and accidentally standing on the goalkeeper's wrist. Pienaar was also offside when Cech saved the initial strike, and the goal was quite rightly ruled out by Dowd, but not after a lengthy discussion with his assistant. But for the eagle-eyed linesman, Dowd may truly have completed his double hat-trick of refereeing blunders.
The Chelsea goalkeeper then made a brilliant stop to deny Lescott's header which may have gone in, but for the reach of the apparently injured shot stopper. Cech then tipped a deflected cross from Lampard over before making several good catches under pressure from Arteta's front post corners, as the Blues battled on to earn a point that sees them remain a point behind Liverpool. A point gained, or two points lost? Make your own mind up.
__________________________________________________________________ Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo (Baines), Jagielka, Lescott, Neville, Osman, Arteta, Fellaini, Pienaar, Cahill Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Joe Cole (Ivanovic), Ballack, Lampard, Deco (Bridge), Anelka (Drogba)
Attendance: 35,655 Star Man: Petr Cech
