5 Telling Stats from Everton’s Pivotal Victory Against Chelsea

Everton closed the gap with Burnley and Leeds United down to just two points with a game in hand on Sunday with a monumental victory in their fight against relegation against third place Chelsea. Richarlison’s goal just one minute into the second half ended up being the winner, with heroic performances from Jordan Pickford and Yerry Mina at the back keeping the FA Cup Finalists and defending Club World Cup champions at bay for 97-plus minutes.

Goodison Hoodoo

Chelsea have had a wretched run as of late when visiting Goodison Park, having failed to win a game at the Grand Old Lady since their title-winning season in 2017. The next season saw a scoreless draw play out between the two sides, but Everton have now won all of the four meetings since, winning 7-1 on aggregate across those games.

Unlikely Error

Chelsea Club Captain Cesar Azpilicueta was at the center of everything during Sunday’s match, including Richarlison’s winner. The Spaniard made an uncharacteristic mistake which led to Richarlison slotting past Edouard Mendy; that goal ended up being enough to secure a priceless victory for Everton.

England’s #1

Jordan Pickford delivered an unbelievable performance in goal for Frank Lampard’s side, producing two of the best saves you’ll see all season within 30 seconds of each other. The undebatable Man of the Match, in my opinion, was one of if not the main reason that Everton were able to hold on to three precious points under constant second-half pressure from the reigning Champions of Europe.

Big Game Player

Just when Everton needed him most, Richarlison was johnny-on-the-spot yet again. The Brazilian has now scored over 20% of his Premier League goals against the “Big Six”, proving he never backs down regardless of the opposition.

Sweet Revenge

Sunday’s match was Frank Lampard’s first time managing against the club he scored a record 211 goals for and managed to Champions League qualification. 461 days after he was bitterly sacked, Lampard finally got his retribution against Chelsea. He’s never been happier to see them lose.