Chelsea vs Everton LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight
Live reaction from Stamford Bridge as Thomas Tuchel’s side failed to close the gap on leaders Manchester City
Follow live reaction as Chelsea were held to a draw by a depleted Everton side at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were the dominant team throughout but failed to capitalise on their possession as Thomas Tuchel’s side slipped four points behind leaders Manchester City after losing ground in the the Premier League title race.
Mason Mount thought he had earned Chelsea the win when he finished past Jordan Pickford to give the Blues the lead in the 70th minute, but Everton hit straight back when 19-year-old defender Jarrad Branthwaite equalised from Anthony Gordon’s corner four minutes later. Pickford then made a crucial save to deny Thiago Silva’s header low down, but Chelsea were poor and unable to create any further chances.
Everton, who were missing 12 first-team players due to injury or illness, deserved their point after putting in a battling performance for under-fire manager Rafael Benitez. Chelsea were without Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi after they tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday.
Follow live updates and team news below:
Full-time: Chelsea 1-1 Everton
Report from Tom Kershaw at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea blow two vital points in the title race.
Chelsea lose ground in title race as depleted Everton battle for a point
Chelsea 1-1 Everton: Jarrad Branthwaite scored a shock equaliser as two huge points were dropped in the Premier League title race
Full-time: Chelsea 1-1 Everton
It was a terrible night for Chelsea as a whole as the women’s side crashed out of the Champions League.
Full-time: Chelsea 1-1 Everton
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel: “We blew another lead - it’s hard to swallow. We missed big chances to set the game straight in the first half. We lacked the rhythm in the second half. Football is never a one-reason game but one big reason [we didn’t win] is the chances we missed today. We could have been two or three up but we were playing with fire.
“It is obvious we missed a lot of players, big personalities, regular starters, but we will not use it as an excuse.”
“I don’t know, I don’t want to get involved in the political stuff. If the other games are postponed they are postponed. If they decide we have to play with our cases we play.
“We had enough chances, enough quality to win the game. We did not.”
Full-time: Chelsea 1-1 Everton
“I can’t put it into words really - how much it means to score for this club,” says a glowing Branthwaite.
“We worked on it [the free-kick] in training yesterday,” he reveals to BT Sport.
Full-time: Chelsea 1-1 Everton
Chelsea had over 80% of possession and 23 shots at goal but they shortcomings in front of goal again come back to haunt them.
They played some lovely football at times, particularly in the first half, but they really did not look like finding the winner following Everton’s shock equaliser.
FULL-TIME! Chelsea 1-1 Everton
Two massive points dropped by Chelsea. What a brilliant performance that was from Everton given the circumstances.
Chelsea 1-1 Everton
90+4 mins: Frustration for Chelsea as a long passing sequence doesn’t go anywhere - and Everton look good for their point!
Chelsea 1-1 Everton
90+2 mins: Mount takes it down and turns but Keane heads away his cross. The Everton defender has been tremendous tonight, while Pickford has been man of the match.
Chelsea 1-1 Everton
89 mins: Everton are almost there. This has been a brilliant, battling performance from them but there will be plenty of questions asked of Chelsea if they cannot find a winner.
There will be five minutes added on.
Chelsea 1-1 Everton
87 mins: Dobbin has a couple of opportunities in the Chelsea box - first as he looked to cut the ball back to Gordon and then again as he attempted to wriggle away from Rudiger. Great work from Keane to win the ball back from Mount with an aggressive press.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies