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Guardian: Chelsea falter at last as Moyes shows muscle Richard Williams at Goodison Park Monday October 24, 2005 The Guardian In the old prizefighting adage you box a slugger and you slug a boxer. Recognising that Jose Mourinho's Chelsea are acknowledged masters of their noble art, David Moyes sent out Everton with instructions to ruffle the visitors' composure. His reward was a point, only his side's fourth of the season, after a furiously physical game from which Mourinho's side will count themselves lucky to have escaped with no more damage than the ending of their run of nine successive victories since the start of the season The contest between two intelligent young managers, situated at opposite ends of the Premiership, made for a compelling spectacle. Everton's muscularity set the tone of the first half, in which James Beattie's 36th-minute penalty gave them the lead. Chelsea's more cerebral approach dominated after the interval, with Frank Lampard's 25-yard drive providing the equaliser in the 50th minute. Mourinho felt his side merited a victory. "Maybe I look a bit stupid," he said, "but I go home thinking that we won three points. We scored two good goals. Normally when you conceded one goal and score two, you win." He was referring to Didier Drogba's emphatic strike after 62 minutes, disallowed by the linesman, who had spotted Eidur Gudjohnsen several yards offside inside the penalty area, clearly within the eyeline of Everton's goalkeeper. Mourinho may have been the only spectator in the ground who did not immediately assume that Gudjohnsen was interfering with play. "Even if the linesman has a doubt," he said, "he has to give the advantage to the attacking team. They also have instructions to wait until the last moment before putting up the flag. His went up like a rocket." Moyes endorsed the referee's decision and felt his own team could have been awarded a second penalty with eight minutes left, when Marcus Bent's right-wing cross rebounded from John Terry's superstructure. Whereas the referee, Mark Clattenburg, adjudged the ball to have hit the Chelsea captain's chest, Moyes thought it had struck Terry's arm. But this was, in any case, a good day for Moyes, generally regarded as the Premiership's brightest young manager until Mourinho's arrival a year ago. Modelling his approach on the cold-eyed passion of Sir Alex Ferguson, the Scot seemed destined for great things until Everton's disastrous start to this season took the bloom off his reputation. This resilient display was the reward for a positive approach, if not a particularly progressive one. Moyes had noted Chelsea's weakness against the high ball in the opening quarter of their Champions League match against Real Betis on Wednesday. For the visit of the league leaders he made four changes, notably bringing Beattie and Duncan Ferguson in to replace Bent and James McFadden up front. The return of Ferguson in particular provided a clear signal of Everton's intentions. Anticipating his opposite number's thoughts, Mourinho took advantage of a training-ground injury to Ricardo Carvalho to bring Robert Huth, the young German giant, into the centre of his defence. If any doubts existed about the nature of the contest, they were answered in a five-minute period midway through the opening half. First Terry took a bang on the nose from the back of Beattie's head. Then Shaun Wright-Phillips needed treatment for a clash of heads with Nuno Valente. Finally Beattie jumped into a challenge with Claude Makelele and caught the Frenchman on the back of the head with the sole of his boot. Although Chelsea were putting together a selection of silky moves in the pauses between the outbreaks of trench warfare, Everton seemed to be holding the initiative. After 35 minutes Wright-Phillips paid a high price for his lack of physical presence when he lost possession to Tim Cahill inside his own half and chased the Everton man back towards goal, ignoring the covering presence of Huth and comprehensively mistiming his tackle inside the area. This was the first time in two years that a penalty had been awarded in a league match at Goodison and Beattie, with only one league goal since his transfer in January, had no hesitation in marching to the spot. An apparently nerveless strike went in off the underside of the bar. Mourinho made no tactical changes at the interval but Chelsea came out in a more alert and aggressive frame of mind. The equaliser, nevertheless, came without warning. Asier Del Horno's throw-in from the left, of questionable legitimacy, looked to be directed towards Makelele but the proximity of Clattenburg seemed to confuse the issue and the ball ran to Lampard, who let it roll before unleashing a drive that dipped and swerved beyond Nigel Martyn's left hand. It was his 25th goal of the calendar year, for club and country, and on another day he might have had two or three more. "I thought Frank Lampard was stunning," Moyes said with the generosity of a man seeing dark clouds disperse. "Every time he picked up the ball I thought he was going to be a threat. But Chelsea have got so many good players that you can't plug all the gaps. They're the best team in Europe and I have to give my players a lot of credit for making a game of it today. If we can maintain that level of performance, hopefully we'll be back." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Independent: Mourinho rages at referee as Chelsea juggernaut is halted Everton 1 Chelsea 1 By Sam Wallace Published: 24 October 2005 They have not yet been stopped but after nine games of Premiership domination, of crushing victories and swashbuckling comebacks, the daunting progress of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea juggernaut has at last been slowed. Their nine-game run of victories this season came to an end at Goodison Park yesterday but it was not declared over without an outspoken protest from Mourinho over a winning goal denied to Didier Drogba. The Chelsea manager had watched his side recover from a one-goal deficit dealt them by James Beattie's 36th-minute penalty and, after a second-half equaliser from Frank Lampard, saw a goal by his Ivory Coast striker just after the hour ruled out by referee Mark Clattenberg for offside. It provoked outrage from Mourinho, who even suggested the official should take the example of referee Rob Styles, who apologised to Chelsea for not awarding a penalty against Aston Villa last season. The move in question had been orchestrated by Lampard, who nudged a ball through the Everton line from outside the penalty area. Waiting was Drogba, who struck his shot out of the reach of Nigel Martyn. While television replays revealed the striker to be on-side his team-mate Eidur Gudjohnsen clearly was not, although whether his presence was judged to be interfering with the passage of play was left to Clattenberg's interpretation. "I am going home thinking we won three points," Mourinho said. "We scored two great goals, one was a fantastic shot, the other was a magnificent move through the middle. The second was a clear goal - if the linesman has doubts he has to give the advantage to the attacking team. There were no doubts for me - at the time and on the pitch it was a big mistake." He may hope for an apology, but Mourinho will not be able to rescue a start to the season of nine wins and a draw, which means that the record set by Bill Nicholson's Tottenham in 1961 of 11 straight victories halted there after 34 matches, Liverpool's 1987-88 run of 29 games went the same way and three years ago Wayne Rooney's goal ended an Arsenal run of 30 games. It will be little consolation for Mourinho who, unusually for the Chelsea manager, saw his team more than a little bullied by the side at the bottom of the Premiership for much of the first half. Duncan Ferguson and the impressive James Beattie proved difficult for Mourinho's defence to marshal and, although John Terry and Robert Huth matched those two strikers challenge by challenge, there was a fresh uncertainty to Chelsea's distribution. They were not permitted to build their attacks in the normal methodical fashion, there was pressure applied to Claude Makelele and the usual tempo of Chelsea's advance was disrupted. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Asier del Horno were presented with meaningful chances by Frank Lampard but failed to take them and the penalty that Chelsea conceded before the interval saw them in an uncharacteristic state of confusion. It was Wright-Phillips, caught in possession by Tim Cahill, who chased back without discipline and clipped the Australian midfielder's legs just as he crossed into the penalty area. Until then, Everton had not threatened Petr Cech's goal other than a David Weir header that the goalkeeper punched clear. With the memory of his disastrous sending-off after just eight minutes into this fixture last season, Beattie placed a confident penalty-kick high into the net For at least 30 minutes yesterday the Everton striker will have contemplated what his penalty would have meant for the Premiership had Everton been able to defend their lead and they reached the interval with it still intact. Half-time, however, has of late been the point at which Mourinho has transformed his side and, although this time there were no substitutions, it was a very different Chelsea side that emerged from the tunnel to take control of the match. Perhaps Cahill's injury, picked up in a clash with his own team-mate Tony Hibbert, was the key to the shift in power in the midfield but there could be no denying the enormous influence that Lampard wielded in the second half. This match had quickly become his show and in the fifth minute of the second half he allowed a throw-in from the left to run across his body before striking his ninth club goal of the season inside Nigel Martyn's left post. It became a simple matter of keeping Chelsea out in the closing stages as Mourinho switched to a 4-4-2 formation with Hernan Crespo and the influential Gudjohnsen up front and sent on Arjen Robben to test out the right side of Everton's defence. When Mourinho had finished protesting against Drogba's disallowed goal in the 63rd minute, he paid tribute to his side, who had "dominated the second half and had not stopped running until the last second." Moyes could not celebrate any change in his side's status as the Premiership's bottom team but in response to Mourinho's protests over Drogba's disallowed goal did offer one of his own. Substitute Marcus Bent's late shot appeared to strike John Terry on the arm, although all appeals were waved away. Goodison Park roared in disapproval but after the start to the season they have endured they treated this draw like a victory. Goals: Beattie (pen, 37) 1-0; Lampard (50) 1-1. Everton (4-4-2): Martyn; Hibbert, Yobo, Weir, Valente (Ferrari, 45); Kilbane, Cahill (Davies, 70), Neville, Arteta; Ferguson (Bent, 7, Beattie. Substitutes not used: Wright (gk), McFadden. Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Gallas, Huth, Terry, Del Horno; Makelele; Wright-Phillips (Gudjohnsen, 5, Lampard, Essien, Cole (Robben, 66); Drogba (Crespo 71). Substitutes not used: Ferreira, Cudicini (gk). Booked: Everton: Arteta, Ferrari. Chelsea: Drogba, Huth. Referee: M Clattenberg (Tyne and Wear). Man of the match: Beattie. Attendance: 36,042. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun: Everton 1 Chelsea 1 CHELSEA dropped their first points of the season as Everton began their survival push. Blues boss Jose Mourinho had warned that the Toffees would be no pushover at Goodison Park, claiming David Moyes' men will finish in mid-table. And he was proved right as the Premiership's bottom side threatened a massive shock. James Beattie sent the Goodison crowd wild with a first-half penalty after Tim Cahill was brought down by Shaun Wright-Phillips. But that sparked the inevitable Chelsea onslaught which saw them secure a point thanks to yet another Frank Lampard howitzer. The reigning champions went all out for the win but were frustrated time and again by Everton's dogged resistance. Everton make a habit of breaking runs. In 1969 they ended Leeds’ 34-match record, in 1988 Liverpool’s 29-game spell was ruined and in 2002 Arsenal’s 30-match effort was ended. Now Chelsea’s nine-match winning streak has gone the same way. And had John Terry been penalised for handball late in the game when he charged down a Marcus Bent drive, Evertonians could have been celebrating a hugely unlikely victory. Mourinho came prepared for an Goodison Park aerial bombardment, with big defender Robert Huth in for his first start of the season alongside skipper Terry. Everton had record signing Beattie in their side for the first time since the opening day of the season, the £6million man having shaken off toe and leg muscle injuries. The hosts also welcomed back Tony Hibbert to defence and Mikel Arteta in midfield after injuries, with Simon Davies, James McFadden, Bent and Matteo Ferrari all dropped to the bench. A blistering start to the game saw Everton go close when Arteta’s corner found David Weir unmarked 10 yards out and his header was palmed away by Petr Cech. Arteta and Hibbert then both fired in dangerous crosses which just failed to get a decisive touch. Wright-Phillips and Lampard both saw efforts flash wide, but Everton were still trying to go forward and when Cahill got past the former Manchester City star down the left, the tackle that followed from the little winger had the stadium in uproar. Wright-Phillips did not need to lunge in, there was plenty of cover around him, but his tackle caught Cahill inches inside the box and referee Mark Clattenburg pointed straight at the spot. Beattie rifled the spot-kick in off the underside of the bar - only the fourth goal Chelsea have conceded in the league this season. Everton lost Nuno Valente just before the break with an ankle knock while Cahill was also forced off with an injury. The home fans knew precisely what Chelsea are capable of after their destruction of Bolton last week when they were behind at the break. And they were right to be wary because five minutes into the second half Lampard lashed in a 25-yard shot for the equaliser, the ball dipping past Martyn’s left hand. Drogba found the net moments later but it was ruled out as Eidur Gudjohnsen was offside. Arjen Robben and Hernan Crespo were thrown on as the Stamford Bridge side went for the throat. Simon Davies launched a 25-yard effort that Cech dropped. While Marcus Bent was denied a penalty when Terry threw himself at a shot in the box which referee Clattenburg adjudged to have hit the England man’s chest. TV replays clearly showed it was the top of Terry's arm. Martyn then saved from Lampard and Michael Essien as Chelsea's march towards the title was temporarily halted. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Telegraph: Everton defy the might of Chelsea to kickstart season By Henry Winter Everton (1) 1 Chelsea (0) 1 The billionaire's club were embarrassed by the fired-up blue-collar workers of the people's club as a welcome bout of democracy broke out in the Premiership yesterday. In front of a jubilant Goodison Park audience, the winning spree of Roman Abramovich's Chelsea foundered on the industry of Everton and particularly James Beattie, who gave a performance rich in running, tackling, competing and scoring. Hailed by Jose Mourinho as "a team of fighters", Everton were terrific here, as strong and up-tempo as they had been anaemic so far this term. Only the brilliance of Frank Lampard, who ran Beattie close as man of this entertaining match, could deny Everton, his equaliser another long-range classic. His sixth goal in October for club and country, Lampard's strike was his 25th of a prolific 2005. "Lampard was stunning at times," said Everton manager David Moyes, "not just with the goal, but with all his work." His watching father, Frank senior, who travels all over, certainly gets value for his petrol money. But it will be the bottom club smiling most. In preventing Chelsea moving closer to Tottenham Hotspur's record 11-game winning start to a season (1960-61), Everton were not reliant solely on Beattie. Duncan Ferguson was a towering presence in attack, conducting an aerial engagement with Robert Huth that could have been overseen by air-traffic control at John Lennon International. Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill brought guile to midfield where Phil Neville was his usual busy and spiky self. Behind him, Joseph Yobo was outstanding at centre-half. But it was Beattie who earned most of the praise, not simply for a cool penalty but for tracking back to close Asier del Horno down in the dying, nervy seconds. "This is a massive point," said Beattie. "We are bottom of the league, but we showed what we are made of. The manager says the season starts here, hopefully we can climb the table, which we should do with the talent in the dressing-room." Moyes was understandably delighted. "He showed everyone what we hoped James Beattie would be," said Moyes. "With a work-rate like that, he will never be questioned. We had to work hard against the best team in Europe. That will give us a lot of confidence. The players have raised the bar. There is now a standard that they have to play to week in, week out." Everton's captain, David Weir, must have shouted heads when the toss was made. Running on adrenalin, raining high balls on to Chelsea's defence, Everton really rattled the champions, particularly in a first half that had Goodison on its feet in appreciation of the sweat-soaked effort of Moyes' men. Lampard and Shaun Wright-Phillips went close but, with the clock showing eight minutes from the break, Everton went for the jugular. Wright-Phillips endured a hapless and hugely expensive minute, first losing possession to Tim Cahill and then bringing him down as the Australian nipped into the box. Gwladys Street screamed for a penalty. Here was Beattie's redemption moment, a chance to banish all the criticism and months of frustration as he toiled in the gym after injury. "I didn't feel any pressure on the penalty," said Beattie. "Their players were trying to say things to me but I just went off and got ready." He turned, ran in and drilled the ball high into the net. Champions by name, champions by nature, Chelsea refused to be cowed, and hit back after the customary inspirational half-time talk from Mourinho. Within five minutes they were level. If the goal's origin was strange, the finish was sensational. Del Horno's throw-in technique has aroused questions over its legitimacy before, partly because he lowers his head and delivers a fast and flat throw. The ball raced through to Lampard, who sent it flying through the air past Nigel Martyn from 30 yards. The very model of the modern all-round midfielder, Lampard junior then almost created the winner, when his through ball was turned in brilliantly by Didier Drogba. The linesman, Chris Sarginson, signalled an offside against Eidur Gudjohnsen, a seemingly correct decision that angered Mourinho. "Officials are told to wait but his flag was up immediately, like a rocket," said the Portuguese. "Nobody was offside. It was a clear goal. The referee won't be happy when he sees that big mistake. We leave here with a bad taste in our mouths." Moyes' evidence could be deemed tainted by partiality but he did have reason on his side. "Gudjohnsen is in a position where he would affect play," said the Everton manager. "He's right in the middle of goal. That constitutes being in an offside position. Anyway I thought we could have had a penalty when John Terry leaned into the ball." There appeared contact, but the linesman deemed it more chest than arm by Terry. Mourinho ignored this appeal but still brought up mention of Arsenal's spot-kick shenanigans from the previous day. "Arsenal have so many penalties through the season, they have to do tricks," said Mourinho, whose prediction that Chelsea should have retained title by Christmas does not appear complete fantasy. Maybe Boxing Day. And Everton will still be fighting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Times: Chelsea come up short of perfection By Oliver Kay Everton 1 Chelsea 1 GROWN MEN EMBRACED in the Gwladys Street End, unable to contain their delight at the rebirth of a proud club fallen on hard times, while the white-shirted figures on the pitch exchanged doleful looks. It was only as the dust settled and the euphoria died down that the realisation sunk in that nothing, or at least very little, had changed. Everton were still bottom of the Barclays Premiership and Chelsea still nine points clear at the top. Such an assessment is harsh on Everton, who could claim to have won back a little self-belief as well as a valuable point yesterday, but a little perspective is needed when it comes to analysing Chelsea’s first dropped points of the season. If it could be described as a stumble or a slip-up, it seemed no more consequential than the type that might be inflicted by a loose paving stone on the high street. What is important is that, after falling behind to James Beattie’ s 37th-minute penalty, José Mourinho’s team recovered, regained their composure and proceeded to strut their stuff as impressively as ever. In desperation, the rest of the Premiership might seize upon this as evidence that Chelsea are beatable, but, if that were the case, would they not have been beaten? This had all the ingredients for an upset — and Sir Alex Ferguson was heard whispering on Friday that this might finally be the weekend when they slipped up — but Chelsea, through their quality, discipline and sheer bloody-mindedness, did not allow it to happen. They equalised through Frank Lampard five minutes into the second half and would have claimed a tenth consecutive league win had the linesman not ruled a seemingly legitimate goal by Didier Drogba offside. “It’s normal to drop points,” Mourinho said once he had dropped his faintly amusing claim that his team, by virtue of Drogba’s “goal”, had won the game 2-1. “We should have dropped points in the first game against Wigan. Dropping points is part of the game. Only this weekend Manchester United drop points at home, Liverpool drop three points away from home and Arsenal, well, they didn’t drop points, but . . . ,” he said, drifting off as if to suggest that he no longer takes the 2004 champions seriously. Goodison Park has been a graveyard for lengthy unbeaten runs down the years. It was here, in front one of the country’s most passionate crowds, that some of the greatest teams in English football history were brought to their knees, however temporarily — the all-conquering Leeds United side of 1968-69, the wonderful Liverpool team of 1987-88 and most recently an Arsenal team who had looked imperious as they started their defence of the title in 2002 — but Chelsea had no intention of adding their name to the list of scalps. Only once did Chelsea lose concentration against awkward and highly motivated opponents, but that was once too often for Mourinho’s liking. Shaun Wright-Phillips dithered and was beaten to a loose ball by Nuno Valente and, although the winger briefly regained possession, he only compounded his initial error as he lost the ball and hacked down Tim Cahill just inside the penalty area. Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot and Beattie did the rest, crashing the ball in off the crossbar with rare confidence for a player who had scored just one Premiership goal in nine months since joining the club. It was only Everton’s second goal of the Premiership campaign and their first in 628 minutes of football. The relief that it brought around Goodison Park was almost palpable, perhaps not least on the touchline. Taking players on outward-bound courses often seems to be the last refuge of a desperate manager, but David Moyes had evidence here that his team-bonding break in the Lake District was working. Portrayed in one newspaper on Saturday as being up a particularly notorious creek without a paddle, Everton seemed reinvigorated, their sheer vigour unsettling their well-heeled opponents. There were signs that using two target men, Beattie and Duncan Ferguson, unsettled the visiting defence, but, with Chelsea, these things tend to be relative. Mourinho, always one step ahead, used Robert Huth at centre half and the German, matching Ferguson inch for inch, perhaps just about shaded the aerial contest. “There was a problem with (Ricardo) Carvalho and I knew this was the kind of game it would be,” the Chelsea manager said. “It was better to play Huth against Ferguson and Beattie.” Other individuals contests all over the pitch were just as keenly fought. Phil Neville and Cahill enjoyed their tussle with Michael Essien and Lampard in the heart of the action, while Mikel Arteta and Asier Del Horno, two proud sons of Spain’s Basque Country, exchanged tackles and blows on the fringes. The only area where there was a visible lack of fight was in Chelsea’s front-line, where Wright-Phillips was disappointing and Joe Cole frustrated while Drogba, however well-marshalled by Joseph Yobo and David Weir, at times seemed to lack the heart for the battle. Drogba, in fact, was starting to look like a liability early in the second half, picking up a yellow card for crashing into Tony Hibbert and Arteta in quick succession, when Chelsea forced their way back into the game. Claude Makelele was obstructed by the referee as he went to control Del Horno’s throw-in, but the ball ran loose to Lampard, who took aim in familiar fashion from 25 yards and sent a fierce shot swerving past Nigel Martyn into the bottom corner, his ninth goal from midfield in a season that is barely two months old. Not bad for a player who, to quote Sven-Göran Eriksson, is a slow starter. By that stage, Everton, inevitably, had begun to tire. They had a reasonable penalty appeal in the closing stages when a Marcus Bent shot struck John Terry’s upper arm, but that was an isolated attack, with Chelsea, driven forward by Lampard and given fresh impetus by the perceptive forward play of Eidur Gudjohnsen, the only team who were threatening to win the game. In the end, Everton hung on — and deservedly so, in view of their endeavour — but they will need much more of the same if they are to fight their way out of trouble. As for Chelsea, normal service is likely to be resumed at home to Blackburn Rovers next Saturday. Human after all? Well, yes, but for the rest of the Premiership, not nearly human enough.