Chelsea 3-3 Everton: 5 Talking Points

Was John Terry offside when he scored the equaliser?Guus Hiddink continued his unbeaten run during his interim spell but his Chelsea side could only draw 3-3 with Everton at Stamford Bridge. After a cagey first half, both teams sprang to life in the second. A John Terry own goal was quickly followed by a sublime Kevin Mirallas turn and volley as Everton ran out of the blocks in the second half to establish a 0-2 lead. But the Blues sooon hit back. Diego Costa started the fightback after latching on to a brilliant Cesc Fabregas pass and beating Jagielka and Howard before tapping into the empty net. Costa returned the favour two minutes later, setting up Fabregas to score with the aid of a deflection. As the Blues pushed forward for a winner, substitute Ramiro Funes Mori looked to have grabbed all three points as he kicked in Deulofeu’s cross in added time. But in the final minute, John Terry pounced on a ball into the box and back-heeled the ball in. Replays showed that the Chelsea skipper was clearly offside, much to the dismay of the Everton faithful, but the Blues fans could not care less as we saw one of the loudest cheers in Stamford Bridge this season.Here are the major talking points from the game.

#1 Blues stage fightback

Chelsea’s home record this season makes for grim reading – 4 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses. Countless times this season, the Blues have wilted as their home games have gone on and come on out on the losing side in tight contests.

Thus, when the Blues went two goals behind in the second half, it looked like it was game over. Chelsea had shown little in way of attacking adventure at that point and it was hard to see them mustering two goals and this only made the fightback even more special.

Cesc Fabregas went deeper after Nemanja Matic’s substitution and began dictating the game. The Spaniard has enjoyed a fresh renaissance in 2016 – with his improvement being a huge factor in Chelsea scoring 10 goals in the last 4 games.

Diego Costa was certainly up for it, chasing down lost causes and generally being the Costa we saw early last season. The Everton midfield duo of Besic and Gareth Barry, solid all game and keeping the ball, was suddenly unable to withstand the onslaught and play the ball out.

They will need to come up with these kind of performances from the start, rather than when being behind two goals down if they hope to somehow salvage this season with a domestic or continental cup run.