Chelsea forced into rearguard action

SOCCER/Everton 0 Chelsea 0: WHEN CHELSEA cannot dominate, they rediscover their survival instinct. Following the expulsion of John Terry, they had to keep Everton at bay for an hour. With 10 minutes to go, they were nearly broken by a Marouane Fellaini backheel from Leighton Baines' cross that went wide.

Later still, Steven Pienaar did find the net, but he had been in an off-side position that allowed him to profit after a Leon Osman effort broke to him.

Chelsea have failed for the first time to win an away game in the league this season, but the side must take pride in its endurance.

Everton needed means to compensate for the imbalance in resources, and the adjustment came here with the dismissal of Terry.

With 34 minutes gone, the Chelsea captain attempted an aggressive challenge inside the opposition's half. His right boot bit into the shin of Leon Osman and there was never any doubt that he would be shown a straight red by the referee Phil Dowd.

This was merely the third sending off in Terry's career.

While the immediate re-organisation was simple, with the defensive midfielder Mikel Jon Obi taking a few paces back to the middle of the back four, Chelsea were unnerved.

Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole were both booked for dissent when they sustained their complaints about the award of a free-kick near their penalty area. If Everton felt more confident then, it was an unfamiliar state of mind in these parts.

Home could have the look of hostile territory to them, since David Moyes' side have won just once at Goodison all season. The club has performed remarkably with its relatively modest means, but an obligation to control matches on their own field can be burdensome.

You could imagine the Everton manager engrossed in schemes to block the visitors' overlapping full-backs Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole or to disconnect Nicolas Anelka from his midfield.

The cogitations, however, might also have diverted Moyes from his failure to record a victory over these opponents since he got the Everton job. Of course, the odds that had been steeply against looked more heartening once Terry had departed.

Prior to that, the impression was of Chelsea steadily building an ascendancy. There had been an unwelcome reminder for Everton of how suddenly things can go wrong in the third minute when Tony Hibbert's mistake allowed Ashley Cole a drive that was well-contained.

Little else, however, was permitted to occur before Terry's rash moment.

Everton did have to be circumspect when each line-up was fully manned. The visitors, after all, had the artifice of Deco and Joe Cole in midfield to benefit from the control established by Lampard and Michael Ballack.

Moyes' side went on the attack when they could, but those forays were intermittent.

Everton ought to have been in command once they had superiority in numbers. His counterpart, Luiz Felipe Scolari, had some scheming to do. For the second half, Branislav Ivanovic came on to take up position in defence and that permitted Mikel to return to midfield, with Joe Cole removed.

In attack, the more muscular Didier Drogba took over from Anelka in a undermanned side.

Everton had no hesitation about attempting to grasp an unusual opportunity. Play poured down the flanks against a stretched Chelsea and Tony Hibbert, for instance, found the head of Marouane Fellaini in the 52nd minute, although the save from Petr Cech was elementary.

The manoeuvres, all the same, seemed to have more persistence than precision.

The gusto of Everton was not in question. They must have had the rare nature of this opportunity impressed upon them at the interval. Some disruption had to be borne, when Joseph Yobo departed with an apparent hamstring injury. Leighton Baines came on at left-back with Joleon Lescott relocating to central defence.

There was no apparent need to brood on the composition of the Everton back four when it was Chelsea's that was regularly under inspection.

The tempo quickened and Fellaini advanced to centre-forward, where his height was a concern to the visitors as Moyes's team sought to mount a barrage of crosses.

When Chelsea did advance to gain a free-kick, Ballack was cautioned for making an incorrect claim that the Everton wall had not retreated far enough.

The visitors could do no more than treat it as another piece of adversity to be endured on a taxing evening.

EVERTON: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo (Baines 61), Jagielka, Lescott, Neville, Osman, Arteta, Fellaini, Pienaar, Cahill. Subs not used: Nash, Van der Meyde, Rodwell, Jutkiewicz, Gosling, Kissock.

CHELSEA: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Joe Cole (Ivanovic 46), Ballack, Lampard, Deco (Bridge 87), Anelka (Drogba 46). Subs not used: Cudicini, Malouda, Kalou, Belletti. Sent off: Terry (35). Booked: Ashley Cole, Lampard, Ballack.

Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).

© 2008 Guardian Service