Chelsea’s team and staff had their sleep disturbed by Everton fans in the early hours on Sunday morning ahead of the Blues’ defeat at Goodison Park.
Frank Lampard’s Everton side were in a must win game on Sunday afternoon as they bid to avoid a first relegation in over 70 years and got exactly that when the Toffees secured three points. Richarlison’s goal in the early knockings of the second half secured a 1-0 victory for Everton, seeing them reduce their five point deficit on safety to move within two points of 17 th placed Leeds United.
Inside an atmospheric Goodison Park there were chants, flares and all sorts of the support from Everton supporters on the day, but the spirits from them started around 12 hours before a ball was kicked. Video footage online has shown some Everton fans letting off fireworks outside Chelsea ’s team hotel at 2am.
The fireworks and crackles directly outside Chelsea’s Hilton hotel lasted for around an hour and a half. Thomas Tuchel’s midfielder Jorginho confirmed ahead of the game that were fireworks, joking that they were an overnight distraction.
“Yes, it was a bit noisy. I woke up because of the noise,” Jorginho told Sky Sports. “We were aware it could happen. We knew that maybe it would happen and just went back to sleep again to be right for today.”
Whether or not it played a big impact on Chelsea’s pre-match sleep, the Blues were beaten following a well-spirited and plucky performance from Everton at Goodison Park.
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Everton have picked up 13 points from the same number of games since Lampard succeeded Rafa Benitez on January 31. Of the points they have gained, all 13 have come at Goodison Park.
While Everton do sit two points shy of safety, they do have the advantage of having one more game to play than the rest of the teams in the bottom five do.
They return to action in a week’s time to take on a Leicester City side who lost 3-1 to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon. In their final four, they have trips to Watford and Arsenal either side of a home double header against Brentford and Crystal Palace.
Everton have returned 13 points from their seven home league games under Lampard at a rate of almost two points per home match. However, Everton have lost all six of their away league games under him.
With only two home games left, Everton are likely going to need more than six points to beat the drop, so they will need to end their away points drought and take advantage of their two home games they have left.
Chelsea still need to secure their place in next season’s Champions League. Defeat for them saw their lead over fourth get cut to five points after Tottenham’s win over Leicester.
