English Premier League
Result: Everton 0-0 Chelsea
Date: 23 December 2017
Venue: Goodison Park
Chelsea were left frustrated after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.
After two minutes, Victor Moses embarked on good run on the right wing to whip in a cross that found Eden Hazard in the box but the Belgian's header missed the target by inches.
Phil Jagielka denied the Blues the lead in the 14th minute after he blocked Marcos Alonso's goal-bound low shot on the line and also denied Willian moments later.
Pedro let fly a shot from just outside the box in the 29th minute but could not find the target.
With five minutes remaining in the half, Andreas Christensen almost broke the deadlock with a bullet header inside the box following a corner but his effort sailed over the bar.
Antonio Conte's charges were playing with high intensity in the final five minutes of the half but Sam Allardyce's men were solid at the back and gave nothing away in the last third.
The Toffees made a double a substitution at the beginning of the second half by bringing on Sandro Ramirez in place of Aaron Lennon while Ahsley Williams replaced Tom Davies.
Conte made his first change on the hour-mark as he brought on Cesc Fabregas in place of Pedro.
The tempo of the match dropped after 70 minutes as the substitutions broke the momentum in the tie.
With 12 minutes to go, Hazard broke free inside the box and should have done better but his curling shot was saved by Jordan Pickford.
Fabregas almost spectacularly broke the deadlock with five minutes left on the clock but his strike from 25-yards sailed inches over the crossbar.
Michael Keane almost stole the match for Everton in the last minute with a powerful header inside the box following a corner but his effort missed slightly over the bar as the encounter ended goalless.
