Chelsea dropped points at home to Everton as they drew 1-1; England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford starred for the visitors, making nine saves; Blues boss Thomas Tuchel called it "a freak result"
Friday 17 December 2021 09:08, UK
Thomas Tuchel called Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Everton a "freak result" as his side dropped further points in their pursuit of the Premier League title.
Jordan Pickford starred as a much-depleted Everton scrapped their way to a draw at Stamford Bridge.
The England goalkeeper was called upon to make nine saves in a match where Chelsea had 23 shots on goal but only had a Mason Mount strike on 70 minutes to show for their dominance. That lead only lasted four minutes as Jarrad Branthwaite knocked home a sublime Anthony Gordon set-piece to equalise.
"It was a freak result for this type of match," Chelsea boss Tuchel said.
"We were strong enough today and I'm not sure right now why we get punished. We see teams concede more chances than we do but we only have a draw.
"I am concerned we have too many players out; today six or seven players. I think this in the moment is the problem, one of the key problems. In central midfield, for eight weeks. For today we had our strikers out and that was the case for four weeks with Timo (Werner) and Romelu (Lukaku) out.
"We need to find the balance, be honest, critical with each other, but accept sometimes we get punished for not a lot.
"I would be more concerned if we were totally out of form, concede the first goal and then struggle to come back. It would be easier to analyse. I don't think it's too easy to analyse our situation."
He added on BT Sport: "We missed big chances to get the result in the first half and second half we did not find the rhythm consistently and tried to bring on some energy from the bench, but it was hard. We had the lead and gave it away with one free-kick.
"Football is almost never like one reason why things go this way, but one big reason is, for sure, the chances we missed today. We could have been two or three up and were playing with fire. It is obvious we missed a lot of players, big personalities, regular starters, but we will not use it as an excuse."
Travelling fans unfurled a'Rafa out' banner before kick-off but were toasting the Spaniard after a hard-fought albeit fortuitous draw for a side missing as many as 11 senior players due to injury and illness.
Asked if this proved his most important result at the Goodison club, Rafael Benitez replied: "You can say that, because we have so many issues, with injuries, with illness.
"The way the team played, reacted when we conceded, showed character. It's a great point, not just the point but the way we claimed it. Everyone realised how important and how difficult it was afterwards.
"Great character shown, we are coming back in a lot of games. The way they worked we deserved something. We have had too much bad luck with injuries. The reaction of the team was fantastic."
