Jackson misses prove costly for Chelsea
Chelsea missed the chance to leapfrog Liverpool temporarily at the summit of the Premier League after being was held to a 0-0 draw by Everton.
Enzo Maresca's side knew a win at Goodison Park would see it go top ahead of Liverpool playing at Tottenham Hotspur later in the day, but it was frustrated by a stoic defensive display from the Toffees, and further so as the Reds won at Spurs 6-3.
Nicolas Jackson spurned two big chances in the first half, as he was thwarted by Jordan Pickford and then the woodwork.
For all Chelsea's possession, Everton had the best two opportunities after the break, but Jack Harrison fluffed his lines when one-on-one with Robert Sanchez before Tosin Adarabioyo made a fantastic block to deny Iliman Ndiaye.
The draw leaves Chelsea in second, with Liverpool now four points ahead heading into Christmas.
Everton, unbeaten in three games, is 15th, four points clear of the bottom three.
Chelsea boss Maresca was pleased with the performance if not the result.
"I am very happy because the performance of the boys was fantastic," Maresca said.
"Sometimes you have to play a different game, and we are learning to play a different game. They are one of the best teams in Europe in terms of clean sheets.
"I said to the players I was more happy than [last week's] game at Brentford [Chelsea won 2-1], we tried everything."
Everton, meanwhile, put an end to Chelsea’s 15-match scoring run in the Premier League, with the Blues failing to score for the first time in the league since a 0-2 defeat to Manchester City on the opening day of the season.
Since the beginning of October, the Toffees have kept seven clean sheets in the top-flight, the most of any team across Europe’s top five leagues. They have also kept five clean sheets across their past six league matches.
But manager Sean Dyche believes his side could have walked away with an important three points.
"We could have nicked it. Chances were minimal. They had a couple and we had a couple towards the end, we take a point," Dyche said.
Dyche also spoke of his pride in his players after two battling performances against two of the top three sides in the league which has seen them earn draws in both.
"You have to be willing to put a shift in and I think that was on show today," Dyche said.
"I've never not been proud of these players, we've come through a storm. I respect them."
