Michael Essien kept Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes alive as Avram Grant’s side all but ended Everton’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League with a 1-0 victory at Goodison Park on Thursday.
Essien’s second goal in as many games saw the London club move two points behind leaders Manchester United with three games to play.
Reigning champions United will re-establish a five point lead at the summit if they win at Blackburn Rovers today and this was a crucial win for Chelsea, who face the leaders at Stamford Bridge next Saturday.
PHOTO: AP
Essien struck four minutes before halftime as he capped off a fine move that also involved Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Chelsea just about did enough to deserve all three points on an evening when they suffered much frustration at the hands of an Everton side that started with hopes of securing a top four finish.
Yet David Moyes’ side can forget about Champions League soccer for another season with neighbors Liverpool now clear favorites to secure the fourth and final qualifying spot on offer to England’s leading quartet.
Having surprisingly been held to a 1-1 draw at home to lowly Wigan Athletic on Monday, the pressure was well and truly on Grant and his side. Yet they responded with a performance that keeps the title race bubbling for another week at least.
Chelsea did not have it all their own way. Indeed it required a fine save by Petr Cech to deny Portugal’s Manuel Fernandes, on loan from Valencia, from giving the hosts an early lead after Nicolas Anelka had conceded a free-kick on the edge of his own area after fouling Everton captain Phil Neville.
For long periods the visitors looked as though they were still suffering a hangover from Wigan, a game that badly damaged their title hopes after Chelsea conceded a stoppage-time equalizer.
One of their best chances on Thursday fell to Wright-Phillips, but the England international dithered long enough for Phil Jagielka to make a goal-saving challenge after Salomon Kalou’s defense-splitting pass.
Then came the goal which breathed new life into Chelsea’s season.
Essien started the move deep and after a neat one-two with the industrious Wright-Phillips, the Ghana star buried the ball beyond Everton’s US keeper Tim Howard.
The goal revitalized Chelsea, Jon Obi Mikel going close to doubling the lead a minute later with a stinging long-range effort that brought an excellent finger-tip save from Howard.
Everton have enjoyed an exceptional season by their standards, pushing neighbors Liverpool all the way in the race to finish fourth.
Yet one win in their previous five outings suggests they have finally run out of steam.
They were toothless for much of the game, with Nigerian striker Aiyebeni Yakubu, who has been a revelation since his £11.25 million (US$22.50 million) move from Middlesbrough earlier in the season, particularly ineffective.
Instead it was Fernandes who proved to be the home side’s most threatening player, Everton’s No. 23 going close to equalizing from a 67th minute free-kick.
It was the nearest Everton came to leveling the match, yet the way Chelsea’s players celebrated at the final whistle proved how relieved they were to emerge with three points.
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