Frank Lampard got one of over his former side as Everton secured a crucial 1-0 win over Chelsea in their bid for survival on Sunday afternoon.
Premier League
Result: Everton 1-0 Chelsea
Date: 01 May 2022
Venue: Goodison Park
The Blues manager Thomas Tuchel made only one enforced change from the draw against Manchester United, as the injured N'Golo Kante's place was taken by Ruben Loftus-Cheek, with the three pronged attack of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Mason Mount.
Everton had a bright start but Anthony Gordon's curling free-kick that sailed over the top corner was their only threatening effort in the early stages despite putting Chelsea under pressure.
The game got heated as it grew on and the hosts came the closest to breaking the deadlock just after the half-hour mark through Gordon again, who cut inside and fired a low strike that missed the bottom corner by inches wide and the sides remained deadlocked at half-time.
Frank Lampard's charges had another forceful start in the second stanza and Richarlison finally gave them the lead just from the restart with a composed finish past shot-stopper Edouard Mendy in a one-on-one after Demari Gray nicked possession off last defender Cesar Azpilicueta.
Tuchel's men were spirited to get back into the game and Mount came close to levelling matters just before the hour-mark with a volley that came off the post and Azpilicueta latched onto the rebound but goalkeeper Jordan Pickford pulled off a massive save to parry the ball off the line.
The German mentor made a double change 22 minutes before time, as Christian Pulisic replaced Azpilicueta in a tactical switch and Hakim Ziyech came on for Timo Werner for fresh legs upfront.
Chelsea gained attacking momentum and Loftus-Cheek came close to snatching the equaliser in the last ten minutes with a powerful strike from the edge of the box that was punched over the crossbar by Pickford.
The Toffees were threatening on counter-attacks and Gray had a chance to kill off the game with four minutes left after going through in the box but he blasted his shot over the crossbar.
The visitors kept on attacking and Mateo Kovacic almost snatched the equaliser in stoppage time with a close-range shot at the near post that produced a fine save from Pickford and Everton held on to move two points from safety in the relegation.
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