Only one winner after powerful display of support
The Chelsea coach might as well have turned around and gone home when faced with the sea of Evertonians standing between them and Goodison Park in the very last leg of their journey to the stadium.
Blues fans were desperate for everyone to come together in a real show of unity in the face of the adversity the club are already facing, and they delivered in style. Thousands upon thousands of supporters lined the streets to welcome their players to the ground and give them a raucous reception before they had even took to the pitch.
Thomas Tuchel after the game admitted that Chelsea knew what was coming. If they weren't already aware before they arrived for their night at the Hilton in the city centre, a couple of rude awakenings through the night would no doubt have given them the shock to the system that this was going to be a hostile atmosphere.
AS IT HAPPENED: Look back on our updates from Everton vs Chelsea
YOUR SHOUT: Rate the Everton players for their displays in today's win
Goodison Park was always going to be the key for Everton in this relegation fight, but the power of these supporters continues to amaze. However many times they're knocked down, however many times they're told that their side have no hope - they band together and find a way.
The noise as the teams walked onto the pitch was ear-splitting. The first challenges of the game were met with the roars of a baying crowd hungry for three points.
Even when Chelsea gained the upper hand of possession and began to create chances, there wasn't exactly any feeling of inevitability in the stands. There was still the belief that everything was going to fall into place for Everton this time around.
That's ten points taken from the last 12 available on their own turf, and it's far from the first time Chelsea have wilted under the pressure of a raucous Goodison.
This was arguably the best atmosphere this famous stadium has witnessed since an FA Cup quarter final saw Romelu Lukaku put his former, and future, side to the sword with a double that nearly brought the ground down to its foundations. Even 2,000 supporters in a lockdown-hit 2020/21 season created a strong enough atmosphere to knock the London club right off their stride.
They came into this match unbeaten in their last six Premier League games on their travels, but it didn't matter. Everton were the side with the confidence, with the belief, with the never-say-die attitude to do absolutely everything possible to pull themselves to three points.
Those qualities are absolutely crucial at this late stage of the season. When you've got something to fight for, you have to *fight* for it.
Everton fans set the tone for this, and the players took it to the pitch and responded. As for Chelsea, they probably won't be having a good night's sleep tonight, either.
Crucial Mina
You'd just had to be a striker coming up against Yerry Mina. Not even just because of how strong he is as a player, but we'll get to that in a minute.
But the Colombia international knows how to 'play the game'. By that, I of course mean that he absolutely winds up any opponent within about five yards of him on the pitch.
Kai Havertz was the unfortunate Chelsea man who was up against the returning centre-back on this occasion and even if he tried to give as good as he got, he couldn't achieve it. Mina got directly under his skin throughout the 90 minutes and made absolutely sure the Germany international never left his sight.
The striker got a booking in the second half for a particularly stark example of the defender's work. With the ball in the hands of Pickford, the centre-back made a quick little gesture towards Havertz with his head to get right in his face.
The Chelsea man responded by pushing his opponent to the floor, and received a yellow card in the process. If the Everton star didn't already know he had him on strings, then that moment proved it beyond doubt.
But, the affect he has on his own side is blatantly obvious as well. This was a display which proved just how much he has been missed over the course of this sorry season.
Everton needed to be organised and as committed as possible throughout the full 90 minutes on Sunday afternoon. They reverted to a five-at-the-back, with Alex Iwobi taking up a position at wing-back and Seamus Coleman moving into become the third central defender.
Switching to that formation has often been an Achilles heel for the Blues in the past but not this time. Much of that can be attributed to the affect of Mina.
He won every ball that was lumped towards the defence, he was constantly shouting at those around him to get them into position and he provided such a calming presence with his air of confidence. If only Everton had been able to count on him for the matches that had already been played this season.
These displays only go to show how crucial he will be for the remaining five matches of the term too. He's someone that's patently unreliable in terms of his recent injury history, but he's tantalisingly always carrying a huge amount of quality and maturity on his shoulders.
He was fantastic again on Sunday afternoon. How many more times will he be able to produce that this season?
Richarlison reward
Finally Richarlison got the reward that all of his hard work deserves. There's a fair amount of Evertonians that don't like to see him playing up front on his own because they believe he gets too isolated, reducing his effectiveness.
Even in those matches you can never fault his work rate and desire. He's constantly chasing down defenders looking to try and press high up the pitch, sometimes to his detriment you might say.
Lampard admitted that he had a conversation with his striker to that effect before today's match. Don't run for the sake of it, conserve your energy where you have to and make sure you can push the side on.
Of course, the moment which exemplified just how much he listened came within a minute of the restart after half time. Richarlison and Demarai Gray both smelled an opportunity as they sprinted to put pressure on Cesar Azpilicueta, with the Chelsea man having nowhere to go.
When the ball eventually fell to Richarlison, with Edouard Mendy rushing out to try and stop him, the other important quality of his performance was required. He needed to be clinical in what was likely to be the key moment of the match.
He was. He showed the coolest nerves inside the stadium as he slotted the ball into the bottom corner and spark absolute bedlam in the stands.
That was far from the only time he showed the innate desire to pull his side along with him, though. He chased every single lost cause he could, even when it looked 95% certain he might lose the challenge.
He put himself in positions defenders did not want him to be in, he upset their stride on numerous occasions. Whenever they believed they were safe in possession, he forced them to constantly be looking over their shoulders in fear of being closed down anyway.
This was a great display from Richarlison. Everton needed goals today, and he provided the vital one.
Not sitting back
Let's get this straight, this wasn't exactly a backs-against-the-wall, smash-and-grab effort from Everton. Granted Chelsea had some great chances and they dominated possession, but the Blues also had real opneings.
Shortly after taking the lead the ball was worked brilliantly to Vitalii Mykolenko, who had sprinted forward to join the attack and found himself inside the box. He maybe rushed his effort a little bit, despite having time to pick his spot, and he hit his left-footed shot high into the side netting.
A goal for him would have been just reward for what was another fantastic performance. The Ukraine international is fast-becoming a fan favourite for his solid displays.
Later in the half, Richarlison broke down the left flank and his cross found Gray sliding into the six yard box. Somehow, the ball didn't roll into the back of the net after that.
Anthony Gordon that launched himself down that same side of the pitch on the counter attack, bursting into the box and in on goal. His powerful effort was save by Mendy and pushed behind for a corner.
Even towards the end of the match Salomon Rondon managed to dance his way around a challenge inside the box, before the ball fell to Dele and he just couldn't get the ball out of his feet for a shot.
The xG at the end of the game was 1.09 for Everton, 1.39 for Chelsea. Not exactly the one-sided affair that some might have you believe from the game.
On another day, if Pickford wasn't in such imperious form, the visitors might well have got a goal or two. If a bit more luck had fell for the hosts at the other end of the pitch, though, Lampard's side could well have been out of sight earlier on in the game.
This is a real performance to take heart on a build on. Everton can create the chances, they just need to keep taking them from now until the end of the season.
They are in charge of their own destiny, and they can only focus on themselves.
