Chelsea FC took the lead in the race for Champions League places on matchday 34, narrowly defeating Everton FC 1-0. A long-range shot was enough for the Blues.
With Lavia replacing James (bench), Chelsea went into their home game against the already safe visitors from Liverpool, whose season is already winding down. However, there was no sign of the Toffees playing with any sense of liberation, with Chelsea dominating the game from the start without, however, creating any sustained pressure. At first, there were only shots after individual actions (Madueke, 14th minute) or set pieces (Cucurella, 26th minute).
An early ball win by Chalobah against Neto finally gave the home side the space that Everton had previously denied the Blues – and Enzo Maresca’s team, who watched the game from the stands due to a suspension, took advantage of it in no time: Fernandez passed the ball straight up to Jackson, who had plenty of space just outside the penalty area and capitalized with a precise low shot into the left corner – his first goal since December (27′). Everton became at least a little more active after that, but didn’t create another half-chance until the final minutes of the first half through Doucouré (45′).
In the second half, the Toffees’ approach made for a slightly more open game, with a long-range shot from Beto forcing Sanchez into a difficult save (63′). However, Chelsea continued to have the better chances through Madueke, who found himself in a one-on-one with the impressive Pickford (49′, 74′). This kept Everton in the game, and they even had a great chance to equalize, but Sanchez made an outstanding save against substitute McNeil (87′).
In the end, Chelsea had their recently unreliable keeper to thank for the result and could live with the fact that Palmer, who was inconspicuous this time, went 17 games without scoring. For now, Chelsea moves up to fourth in the table and remains in the race for a Champions League spot. On Thursday, however, the Londoners first have to focus on the Conference League, with an away game against Swedish underdogs Djurgardens IF.
