Everton show signs of life in League Cup defeat against lacklustre Chelsea

Chelsea 2 Everton 1: Dominic Calvert-Lewin clinched a goal for the visitors in stoppage time but it was case of too little too late by that point

Everton fought back in the second half and were rewarded with a late goal (Getty)

An encouraging night for Everton, all told. Yes, they lost. But somehow, you suspect that the pain of elimination from the fourth round of the Carabao Cup will wear off fairly quickly. More importantly, if they can bottle the spirit and penetration they showed in the second half here, when they took on the champions at their own game and came so close to forcing extra time, then perhaps there is still some hope for their season. Something for caretaker manager David Unsworth to build on.

Certainly this was a very different Everton to the one we saw in the dying embers of the Ronald Koeman era: out-muscled and out-tussled, not just beaten but bereft. Perhaps a vague, insipid musk of Koeman-ball lingered over a lacklustre first half, but after the break Everton rallied superbly, more aggressive both in possession and out of it. Chelsea were reliant on reserve goalkeeper Willy Caballero to get them out of several close shaves, only a couple of his own making.

Willian’s injury-time missile, coming in between Antonio Rudiger’s first-half header and Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s late, late consolation, ultimately proved the difference between the sides, and so once more Chelsea triumphed despite being nowhere near their best. Antonio Conte spent much of the second half nervously biting his nails. Having made nine changes for this game, he will have learned a few things about his second-string here, not all of them positive.

Youngster Charly Musonda in action for Chelsea (Getty)

At least there was the sight of 17-year-old Ethan Ampadu - not born when Phil Jagielka made his debut - impressing in midfield. Danny Drinkwater made his long-awaited bow for Chelsea and looked tidy enough for an hour. Kenedy enjoyed a super duel on the left flank with Aaron Lennon, returning from his mental health struggles to start his first game since January.

What of Everton, and their curious mix of raw youngsters and a late-era Fabio Capello England squad? Wayne Rooney at No9 felt like an unwelcome blast from the past, like a favourite band that should never have reunited. But Phil Jagielka put in a good shift at both ends, and teenage midfield anchor Beni Baningime launched into his tackles with a satisfying crunch. Still, a defeat is a defeat, and before their late surge, Everton still displayed many of the frailties that got them into their predicament in the first place.

Take Chelsea’s goal for instance: a good cross by Kenedy, a slightly hurried clearance by Jagielka for a corner, a good swinging ball from Charly Musonda and a delightful arcing header by Rudiger, in so much space you could have mistaken him for a modern art installation. Nothing calamitous. No deadly error or freak mishap. Just a series of quietly preventable occurrences. And this, in a way, has been the story of Everton’s season: a thousand tiny oversights building to one rumbling disaster.

Danny Drinkwater made his debut for the Blues on Wednesday night (Getty)

Yet to everyone’s surprise - possibly even their own - Everton located their chops in the second half. The first sign that something might be afoot was when Rooney found himself unmarked six yards out after a knock-down from Kevin Mirallas. The charging Caballero blocked his shot.

For a while, the former Manchester City goalkeeper was the busiest player in the game. First he cleared the ball from off Lennon’s toes after his own error. Then he made two superb saves from Jagielka and Mirallas to keep Chelsea in front. At the other end, Jagielka somehow managed to outsprint Michy Batshuayi - more than a decade his junior - to deny an open goal. From front to back, Everton had finally located their fight.

Unsworth's first game in charge ended in defeat (Getty)

It was a measure of how tight this game was that Conte ended up bringing on Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Alvaro Morata rather than the three youngsters on his bench. It was Fabregas who helped finally settle the game, Willian smashing one in after his neat flick.

In the final minute of injury time Calvert-Lewin, whose introduction on the hour in a shift to 4-2-4 changed the game, poked the ball in after a goalmouth scramble. And although it failed to change the result, it seemed somehow fitting that Everton should get something out of a game in which they may, finally, have turned the corner.