Chelsea gives away victory in the final phase


Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 8:28 PM• Jonathan van Haaster • Last update: 20:34

Chelsea dropped very expensive points just before time on Saturday. Manager Graham Potter’s team seemed to be 2-1 too strong for Everton thanks to goals from João Félix and Kai Havertz, but Ellis Simms saved a point for the Toffees: 2-2. Chelsea was the parent, although Everton also regularly threatened, especially in the second half, which eventually led to the late equalizer. Chelsea is stuck in tenth place; Everton are sixteenth.

Potter, who preferred Christian Pulisic to Hakim Ziyech, saw that his team was the better side in the opening phase. It led to attempts by Mateo Kovacic, Félix and Havertz. The former saw their shots miss the mark; Havertz’s header proved inaccurate. Everton showed himself through Dwight McNeil, whose shot went over. Chelsea remained the dominant party, although it was not always easy to get past the defense of the Liverpool team. Havertz and Félix tried, but they came across Jordan Pickford. Chelsea is struggling to score this season, so the halftime score was not too surprising: 0-0.

Chelsea were on the attack again from the start of the second act. Ben Chilwell reached Havertz with a nice cross, but the German again found Pickford in his path. A few minutes later, Félix broke the spell. The Portuguese saw a falling ball land at his feet, looked up and found the far corner with a low slider: 1-0. Minutes later, Pulisic also found the net, but the American saw his goal canceled due to Félix being offside just before.

Everton leveled in the 69th minute. Abdoulaye Doucouré headed in a corner after Kepa’s wavering performance. For a moment it was unclear whether Havertz cleared the ball in front of the line, but that turned out not to be the case: 1-1. However, Everton could not enjoy the equalizer for long. Reece James was touched lightly from behind by Ben Godfrey, after which referee Darren England pointed to the spot. Havertz then did not fail, as he never did from eleven meters: 2-1. Everton had to chase again. McNeil first tried in vain with a diagonal shot, but moments later Simms hit the target. The Englishman trumped Kalidou Koulibaly and then saw that Kepa didn’t look good either: 2-2. Havertz was still close to winning in minute 95, but his attempt through his back proved ineffective.

No. Team m W G v +/- Pnt
1 Arsenal 27 21 3 3 37 66
2 Manchester City 27 19 4 4 42 61
3 Manchester United 26 15 5 6 6 50
4 Tottenham Hotspur 28 15 4 9 12 49
5 Newcastle United 26 12 11 3 20 47
6 Liverpool 26 12 6 8 18 42
7 Brighton & Hove Albion 25 12 6 7 15 42
8 Brentford 27 10 12 5 9 42
9 Fulham 27 11 6 10 1 39
10 Chelsea 27 10 8 9 1 38
11 Aston Villa 27 11 5 11 -4 38
12 Crystal Palace 27 6 9 12 -13 27
13 Wolverhampton W. 28 7 6 15 -19 27
14 Leeds United 27 6 8 13 -9 26
15 Everton 28 6 8 14 -18 26
16 Nottingham Forest 27 6 8 13 -27 26
17 Leicester City 27 7 4 16 -9 25
18 West Ham United 26 6 6 14 -10 24
19 AFC Bournemouth 27 6 6 15 -29 24
20 Southampton 28 6 5 17 -23 23