Everton FC News: Fortune finally starts to favour the brave as Everton fight back

Dec 14 2009 by Philip Kirkbride, Liverpool Daily Post

Everton FC News: THE Everton players have reputedly canceled their Christmas party after a poor start to the season – but you would forgive them if a few glasses were raised on Saturday night.

In a week when arguments over festive fun reached boiling point in some quarters of the Premier League, it was player power of a different kind which gave David Moyes’ men their finest result of the campaign.

When you are nursing yourself back to full health the last sight one would wish to come up against is a wounded Chelsea, but the Goodison Park outfit displayed a battle-hardened spirit, the kind which can only be forged from times of adversity, the likes of which the club have been subjected, to claim a richly deserved point.

Too, there was some fortune, long overdue in a period when Moyes’ brave troops have gone into combat low on numbers and ammunition, often with little hope of achieving victory.

And in many respects this is why a point at Stamford Bridge against the Premier League leaders should be celebrated like a triumph.

To do so is not to concede a drop in standards or aspirations, but is to acknowledge circumstance has dealt the club a harsh blow this season and the rare moments of relief should be savored and built upon.

For this in essence is what Saturday’s thrilling draw with Chelsea signifies; a watershed moment in their revival; first there was slog in Athens, then the pulsating fightback against Spurs and now we have the battle of Stamford Bridge.

Of course the point did nothing to improve the position of the Goodison Park side, who still languish in 15th, but it gives greater credence to the school of thought which says Everton’s dark days are behind them.

Yet coming into this match very few of the even the most ardent Evertonians would have foreseen scoring three goals at the home of Chelsea, equaling the number registered in the club’s record win at Stamford Bridge in 1913, especially in light of yet more selection concerns.

Not even the knowledge Everton have achieved parity in their last two league visits would have inspired many to dream of points once more and given Chelsea’s run of two defeats and a draw in their last three matches, thoughts of a heavy defeat as the result of a backlash were not far from people’s thinking.

Holding court with the nation’s media after the match, Moyes candidly revealed his own pre-match worries over containing Chelsea with the players at his disposal. Even the most experienced of centre back pairings fear the threat of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, never mind one so untested as Lucas Neill and Johnny Heitinga.

Yet they typified what Everton were all about at the weekend and though any defence conceding three goals is rarely deserving of praise, it feels appropriate to make an exception in this case.

A rearguard action of epic proportions is par for the course when you visit this patch of west London. Few sides have dominated Chelsea in the lion’s den since the Jose Mourinho era, but there is a growing fallibility about the side since he left.

This season the Achilles heel for Carlo Ancelotti’s men has been defending set pieces and this would be from where Everton gained their reward on Saturday.

Though Chelsea started brightly it was Moyes’ side who struck first when Leighton Baines, impressive all afternoon, whipped a free-kick into the home penalty area for Louis Saha and John Terry to nudge the ball goalwards.

Who got the telling touch would be irrelevant as the ball rebounded off the post and onto goalkeeper Petr Cech’s back before crossing the line.

Football of course rarely goes to plan and on Friday night as Moyes dreamed of a fairytale win at the country’s top side, Everton certainly would not have grabbed a goal as early as the 12th minute – the fear was it arrived 78 minutes too early.

Having played the division’s big hitters this season, the Goodison Park club would no doubt confirm Chelsea are a different proposition to the rest of the league; a different beast all together.

Powerful and imposing, they swarm and smother sides – taking the lead at Stamford Bridge only served to anger an already hurting animal and so their devastating response came as little surprise.

Yet Everton did little to help themselves; Saha was dispossessed in his own half by Ricardo Carvalho who fed Frank Lampard. With his first touch the ball was moved to Drogba and the Ivory Coast striker found the top corner past Tim Howard for 1-1 to complete a ruthless move.

Four minutes later and the Chelsea juggernaut gathered pace and as Saha failed to clear a routine corner Branislav Ivanovic poked the ball into the path of Nicolas Anelka who would find Howard’s other top corner with unnerving accuracy.

Everton were now having to remain steadfast to halt the flow of home attacks and as the game quickly became a ‘sleeves rolled up’ period for Moyes’ men, the battle claimed its first victim in forward Jo.

But as the Brazilian limped off having gone over on his ankle, he inadvertently paved the way for his side to level the game as Chelsea’s vulnerability from set-pieces was laid bare once more.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov’s long throw, flicked on by Marouane Fellaini, caused havoc in the area and as Baines charged in the ball fell kindly to Jo’s replacement Yakubu who struck past Cech from close range.

It changed very little in the pattern of the game however and only succeeded in surging Chelsea on further; Drogba’s neat side foot volley from Ivanovic’s deep cross re-established their lead just before the hour.

But Everton were defending with too much heart and are filled with too much pride to have accepted defeat; they have dealt with unprecedented adversity this season to shy away from the challenge.

And four minutes later they were back on terms when Heitinga’s free-kick was met by Drogba who succeeded in heading against the challenging Saha only for the ball to loop over a stranded Cech – the adage that fortune favours the brave played out for all to see.

Ancelotti’s men probed in search of the winner most expected them to achieve but Everton’s remarkable fightback had taken the life out of Chelsea and they seemed devoid of ideas the further the game progressed.

In a game when the nerves of the Everton supporters were tested once more, it was reassuring that manager Moyes appeared to be the calmest man in the ground – he too must feel as the year draws to a close, 2010 holds even better things. Cheers to that.