Pienaar: Gave Everton the lead

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Everton 2-0 Chelsea

A truly miserable away performance from Chelsea was punished by a spirited Everton side that secured a 2-0 win at Goodison Park.

The sort of suicidal defending that has plagued the Blues this season was on show after just five minutes, as they failed to clear their lines and allowed Steven Pienaar to react to a loose ball in the box before toe-poking a shot past the helpless Petr Cech.

Chelsea reacted well to falling behind, dominating possession and clear-cut chances throughout the first half, but found their attacking efforts thwarted by an organised Everton defence.

Michael Essien and Jose Bosingwa both saw shots blocked from a Juan Mata corner, while Daniel Sturridge saw a low shot flash just wide of the target. Frank Lampard also went close after the half hour mark with a shot from 16 yards out.

Unfortunately for the Blues, their attacking efforts were combined with some more ridiculous defending. Cech played the ball out to Landon Donovan and the USA international slammed a shot back towards the Czech goalkeeper, while Branislav Ivanovic played a crazy square pass across the box to Denis Stracqualursi, who could only shoot straight at Cech.

The second half should have brought with it a spirited fight-back from a Chelsea side that had to win to stave off pressure for a fourth-place finish from the likes of Arsenal, but instead it brought a display filled with individual errors, a shortage of quality up front, and a real lack of urgency.

Everton, not pushing forward too often themselves in an attempt to protect their lead, took full advantage of the visitors’ sloppy display after 71 minutes, Stracqualursi slamming a low finish past Cech after a lovely pass from Donovan.

With Chelsea offering very little despite being two goals down and having nothing to lose, the Everton fans started to aim chants of “You’ll be sacked in the morning” towards Andre Villas-Boas.