THERE seems no end to Cole Palmer’s personal misery.
But Nicolas Jackson ended his own scoring drought to take Chelsea a huge step nearer the Champions League place that will mean so much.
ReutersNicolas Jackson netted his first goal since December 15[/caption]
GettyThe striker notched his 10th goal in the Premier League[/caption]
Palmer’s wait for his first goal since mid-January now stands at 17 games and counting.
As the England ace struggled to make any impression against an Everton side who only started to play in the final half hour, it was hard to see how Enzo Maresca’s suggestion his woes are a “mental thing” has done ANYONE much good.
Palmer is a pale imitation of the player who was so good for his first season and a half at the Bridge.
Those impish runs, the confident flicks and impudent self-belief have vanished, with him looking a shadow of the player who scored four against the Toffees in the corresponding match last term.
You can see it is affecting him, too, long before he was brought off in stoppage time as the home fans bit their fingernails through the dying minutes either side of Robert Sanchez’ crucial save from Dwight McNeil.
Yet for Chelsea and Maresca, forced to watch from the back of the press box as he was suspended from the dug-out, this was a vital win.
Jackson’s superb turn and strike just before the half-hour ended his own four-month spell without finding the net to extend the Stamford Bridge misery for David Moyes and Everton.
It was a quality finish, too, after Trevoh Chalabah dispossessed Beto to feed Enzo Fernandes, with the Senegal striker spinning on a sixpence to rifle beyond Jordan Pickford’s right hand.
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In truth, it was no more than a lacklustre Everton deserved, too, with David Moyes’ game-plan clearly about staying in the contest for long enough for home nerves to flutter.
Moyes’ winless run in SW6 now stands at 25 games and counting, while Everton last took three points from the Bridge in 1994.
ReutersWilly Caballero was on the touchline[/caption]
GettyCole Palmer failed to break his goalscoring duck[/caption]
And while Jackson’s winner was an emphatic answer to his doubters, none of the other three streaks ever really looked like ending.
Chelsea were, for much of a match played in a subdued, almost listless atmosphere, far superior – without ever really grabbing the bull by the horns.
Maresca had parked himself in the corner of the back row of the press box, choosing the semi-restricted “letter-box” view of the pitch.
Then again, plenty of Blues fans have watched much of this season with their fingers in front of their eyes.
In fairness, despite Palmer’s cloak of invisibility, this was not one of those.
Full-backs Moises Caicedo and Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke, operating off the left, were the stand-out performers.
Madueke was first denied by Pickford’s left hand after playing a lovely one-two with Cucurella before advancing to the edge of the box.
But while the England keeper was lucky to get away with a weak punch straight to Cucurella – Chelsea rightly demanded a corner as the final touch came off Iliman Ndiaye – the officials’ “mistake” directly led to the goal.
Pickford’s goal-kick up to Beto was picked off by Chalobah to instigate the move finished as Jackson span and shot instantly from 20 yards.
Jackson’s response to the end of his own 13-match scoring drought – his previous goal came against Brentford in December – was a mixture of delight and relief.
The home fans have not turned on the Senegal striker.
They are, though, less keen on Sanchez – although the keeper ended up the hero of the hour with two vital second half stops.
Sanchez remains a strange mix, his decision making and handling off his line enough to make you wonder if Chelsea surely have a better option among their battalion of glove-men.
But when it mattered, either side of two terrific Pickford saves – one with his left foot, the other with his left glove – the Spaniard stood firm.
The first came with what was Beto’s final touch before he was pulled off, a snapshot from the edge of the box which was heading for the bottom corner before Sanchez sprang to his right.
And three minutes from time, just after the flag rightly denied Jackson his second of the afternoon when Pickford was unable to hold Cucurella’s low 18-yarder, and with the fingernails of the home fans starting to be bitten, Sanchez made another big play.
Carlos Alcaraz, whose half-time introduction for an utterly ineffective Ilian Ndiaye had made a difference, burst down the left to deliver to the penalty spot.
Fellow substitute McNeil had to adjust his feet as the ball was slightly behind him but still made enough contact on the volley to hit the target.
Once more, though, Sanchez anticipated down to his right, getting enough on the ball to ensure it went behind for a corner.
It was enough to secure the points. Chelsea remain masters of their Champions League destiny, although with Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Forest to play, they have by far the toughest run-in of the contenders.
To get over the line, surely, they need Palmer to rediscover his mojo. Quickly.
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