Chelsea lose ground on league leaders after Everton draw

Chelsea missed the chance to close the gap on Premier League title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool as they relinquished a second-half lead to draw 1-1 with Everton at Stamford Bridge.

After the hosts missed a succession of chances, Mason Mount finally found a way past Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 70th minute, only for teenage defender Jarrad Branthwaite to equalise four minutes later.

Chelsea dominated from kickoff and looked certain to take an early lead, but Reece James and Mason Mount shot wide from good positions, before Pickford saved from Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech and, James from a 25-yard free kick.

But the England Number one’s best save of the opening half came 10 minutes before the break when his outstretched right leg kept out a close-range shot from his international teammate Mount, who had been played through by Antonio Rudiger.

Everton ended a run of four straight Premier League away defeats with a surprise draw at Chelsea.

In the 70th minute, Mount broke through by scoring for the fourth straight league game.

After a rare Everton attack broke down, Chelsea countered and Mount took a pass from James to beat Pickford. It was the home side’s 20th shot of the game.

Four minutes later, though, Anthony Gordon’s free kick found Branthwaite at the far post and the 19-year-old — making his first league appearance of the season — stabbed a shot past Edouard Mendy.

Chelsea pushed for a winner, but struggled for the fluency they showed early in the game.

The game was played amid the growing impact upon the Premier League of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

Before kickoff, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel revealed that Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi were all unavailable for selection having tested positive for COVID.

After the game, Tuchel also reflected on the draw.

‘Again, I’m not so sure right now why we get punished like this. I see teams concede much more chances than we do, I see teams concede much more half-chances than we do.

“We conceded absolutely nothing and still it’s a draw. I think we have a huge possibility to sit here with a 3-0 for us and it would be a fair result, but I cannot change it anymore and that’s why we need to find the balance in being honest and critical with each other, but to accept sometimes that we get punished for not a lot”.