Chelsea and Everton succumb to another draw

A late Beckford strike denied Chelsea victory against Everton as the game ended 1-1, extending Chelsea's winless record to four games in the English Premier League.

Drogba had scored from the spot for Chelsea in the first half, after John Terry had hit the crossbar earlier. However, Everton's strong play in the second half saw Jack Rodwell strike the post before Beckford scored the equalizer four minutes from time.

The draw coupled with Arsenal's 2-1 win over Fulham meant Chelsea lost out on the chance to regain top spot, after Manchester United's game against Blackpool was postponed. They now sit third with Arsenal moving top with 32 points, two ahead of Chelsea.

Chelsea's strong first half showing was nowhere to be seen in the poor second which allowed a determined Everton to finish the game on top.

Everton, who have also been poor recently and with this result went six games without victory, started the game on the front foot, with Saha testing Cech with just 40 seconds gone. Apart from that, it was all Chelsea in the first half, helped by the returning duo of Terry and Michael Essien.

Chelsea came close with Anelka and Salomon Kalou both of whom missed chances while Terry's clever lob bounced off the crossbar.

However, a horrible back pass from Everton skipper Phil Neville allowed Anelka to go one-on-one with Tim Howard, who couldn't do much to prevent a penalty. Drogba shot powerfully into the roof of the net to take Chelsea into the first half with a 1-0 lead.

Everton improved in the second half while Chelsea slumped. The Toffees' left back Leighton Baines was particularly impressive with a series of accurate crosses, helping Everton to level pegging.

One such cross found Jack Rodwell's free in the box, and the youngster's diving header clattered onto the post, rolled across goal but did not go in. Another cross in from Baines to the far post was met by Coleman who headed straight to Cech.

At the other end, Ferreira's cross across the face of goal was just inches away from a stretching Cole which had he connected, could have given Chelsea the all-important second goal. However, Cole was well pressurized by Coleman and though he protested for a penalty, referee Probert wasn't interested.

Everton looked more likely to score than the home side and they did when another Baines run down the left, beating four blue shirts, allowed him to cross far post to Cahill who headed back across goal for Beckford to prod in with four minutes of normal time remaining.

Though there was 7 extra minutes for injury time, after Cech had received treatment for taking a boot to his head, Chelsea couldn't manage a decent attack and Everton look more likely to ripple the nets.

When the final whistle came, it was a glum looking Carlo Ancelotti who shook David Moyes' hand. He was enraged at his team's second half showing and said, I am disappointed and angry. Not just because of the result. We played good football in the first half and the second half was totally different. We played the long ball. We were a little bit scared. I didn't like this.

We are working to play a particular kind of football and I don't understand why we have changed it. We have to look at it and I have to understand and change it. I don't think it is a problem of concentration. Everybody knew it was a very important game for us to move on from the difficult moment we are still in.

We have to do better day-by-day on the training ground, in the training sessions. We have to work harder than we are doing. This is the way I know to move on in a difficult moment.

The problem is on the pitch and we have to work to resolve this. First half the spirit was good. I saw the players in focus and concentrated with good tactical discipline. But in the second half they were scared, afraid and played the long ball.

We needed to play better from the back and in the second half, it was the wrong way to play football. I am worried yes, because we haven't won a lot of games. The second half was totally wrong. We have to do better.''

Everton manager David Moyes was full of praise for his team. The second half we deserved the result. Chelsea had a few chances but then you expect that. It was tough for us in the first-half. The quality of our decisions in the final third probably cost us winning the game. But the players responded really well today. The players here tend to do that in the right fashion.''

Chelsea next face cross-town rivals Tottenham Hotspur, after which comes Manchester United and Arsenal. They will be disappointed to have lost the opportunity to gain some momentum going into those games.