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Chelsea’s burgeoning status as Premier League title contenders was tested when they travelled to face Everton on Saturday. The Blues put up a fight but Goodison Park once again proved to be a slippery ground for them.
Right from the referee's whistle, the Toffees showed great desire to fight for every ball and managed to snatch three priceless points from Frank Lampard’s side.
Once Edouard Mendy cluttered into Dominic Calvert-Lewin and conceded a penalty in the process, it was evident Chelsea were in for a tough night. The Blues were handed a tall order when Gylfi Sigurdsson stepped up to put Everton ahead.
That goal would prove to be the winner as the Blues huffed and puffed but couldn’t find an equalizer. It was Chelsea’s third defeat in their last three visits to Goodison, and punched holes in their title ambitions.
Chelsea's title charge falters
Two weeks ago, before Chelsea’s derby clash against Tottenham, the Blues boss admitted his side were contenders for the title. At the time, Chelsea were flying high and racking up clean sheets, having not lost since September 20.
However, following Saturday’s disappointing loss to Everton, Lampard revised his notes and said talks of Chelsea winning the Premier League were “ridiculous”.
“In two or three years if I am still here and have a couple of leagues in our pocket and you ask me if we are title contenders I will say yes, but at the moment people want to look at our squad and talk about it,” Lampard said in the aftermath of the game, as quoted by Goal.
“It is very quick that it has gone from after West Brom and Southampton and we were nowhere near good enough, rubbish, useless. Now last week we have the best squad in the league and are going to win it. We are probably somewhere in the middle and that’s the reality of it," he added.
Indeed, the Everton game was a test of Chelsea’s title credentials, but they failed to pass. The Blues have been very impressive in recent weeks but their form in the big games has just not been good enough.
Blues yet to impress against Premier League's top sides
So far, Chelsea have failed to win against any of the teams in the top half of the Premier League, losing two times and drawing thrice.
All of Chelsea wins in the league have come against sides in the lower half of the table and it’s reflective of the work that still needs to be done for them to become real title contenders.
That Chelsea are currently third on the Premier League table is a testament to the improvement Lampard has brought to the team. But qualifying for the Champions League should no longer be the target.
The Blues have the perfect squad to mount a title charge and are currently just two points behind joint table-toppers Tottenham and Liverpool. The loss against Everton, though, has punched holes in Chelsea’s title ambitions, but there are still more games to get back on track.
