He had plenty of advance warning, but John Terry was
still powerless to prevent Louis Saha adding to his woes and
putting a dent in Chelsea's
Barclays Premier League title hopes at Goodison Park last
night.
The troubled Chelsea skipper has been in turmoil in recent
weeks, following a series of indiscretions that cost him the
England captaincy, and David Moyes advised him against expecting
any upturn in fortunes as he prepared to lock horns with in-form
former Manchester United striker Saha.
Everton's
astute manager has proved himself a sound judge on many a previous
occasion, and his reputation for calling the shots was duly
reinforced as Saha intensified Terry's discomfort by equalising
Florent Malouda's early opener and firing a dramatic winner in the
75th minute.
As he reflects on a calamitous evening for himself and his side,
Terry may just conclude that, as in his private life, his latest
misery was entirely self-inflicted.
A rare lapse of concentration cost him dearly for Saha's first
goal and an equally unusual positional error carried an even
greater price as he allowed Everton's lethal front- runner to
advance unchallenged for his 14th goal of the season.
Moyes had based his calculations on Saha finally breaking free
of any uncertainty over his future by signing a new two-year
contract worth �55,000 a week. It enabled him to concentrate on
what he does best, and Terry will be the latest to testify that few
in the Premier League do it better.
In trouble: Saha takes advantage of Terry's recent
woes and nips in to score the all-important goal
There had been little sign of the defensive mayhem to
come for Chelsea as they started with their customary swagger in
midfield, piecing together slick passing moves and leaving Everton
chasing shadows.
Moyes may just have questioned the standard of defending,
though, as Didier Drogba was allowed a free header from Petr Cech's
clearance and Malouda held off a challenge from Phil Neville to
drill a crisp low shot beyond Tim Howard.
That should have been the cue for Chelsea taking complete
control, particularly as they had never lost with Malouda on the
scoresheet, but Everton had other ideas as they hit back with a
33rd-minute leveller that highlighted another, far more worrying,
statistic about Carlo Ancelotti's side.
As Landon Donovan swung over a corner from the right, Saha
peeled away from Terry and planted a near-post header past Cech to
leave Chelsea mulling over the stark reality that 16 of 21
set-pieces conceded in the league this season have led to
goals.
If that came as a jolt, the alarm bells started sounding at the
end of the half, as Saha had a point-blank shot blocked by Cech in
the 44th minute and Ricardo Carvalho up-ended the lively Donovan
just inside the area for the clearest of penalties.
Saha struck his kick well enough, but Cech read his intentions
and took off to his left to palm it to safety and earn the
gratitude of his team-mates, Carvalho in particular.
First blood: Malouda wastes no time putting Chelsea
ahead at Goodison Park
All the know-how and experience that has made Terry one of
England's most dependable defenders suddenly deserted him, as he
jumped under a long through-ball from Sylvain Distin and looked on
aghast at the sight of Saha chesting it down and volleying
unerringly past Cech.
EVERTON (4-4-1-1):
Howard 6; Neville 7,
Heitinga 6, Distin 6, Baines 7; Donovan 8, Arteta 6 (Rodwell
74min), Osman 6,
Bilyaletdinov 5 (Gosling 86); Cahill 6;
Saha 7 (Senderos 90).
Booked: Donovan.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech 6;
Ivanovic 7,
Terry 7, Carvalho 6, A Cole 6 (Ballack 56, 6); Mikel 7, Lampard 7,
Zhirkov 6; Anelka
(Kalou 66, 6), Drogba 7, Malouda 6.
Booked: Mikel.
Man of the match: Landon Donovan.
Referee: Alan Wiley.
