Chel of a feeling for Carlo as he gets his revenge on Roman
CARLO ANCELOTTI comes from the country where revenge is a dish best served cold.
Nine years after Roman Abramovich treated him with a contempt he really didn’t deserve, the Italian dined well on a decent-sized portion of retribution served on the rocks.
Victory over the club that unceremoniously sacked him – ironically after a final-day defeat at Goodison Park – would have tasted sweet.
Even for a man who has won everything as both player and coach.
Gylfi Sigurdsson’s first-half penalty gave Everton’s returning supporters something to cherish.
But nobody would have been more satisfied than Ancelotti.
It was May 2011 when the Italian felt the full force of Abramovich’s displeasure.
A 1-0 defeat at the hands of David Moyes’ Toffees meant Chelsea had finished the season in second place.
That Ancelotti had previously delivered a Premier League and FA Cup double counted for nothing as far as Abramovich was concerned.
Frank Lampard was one of the players who took Ancelotti out on the town to drown his sorrows later that night.
This time it was the Englishman who was in need of a stiff drink.
Last week Jurgen Klopp claimed Chelsea were favourites to take away Liverpool’s title.
Their noses hadn’t been blooded since they lost to the champions in September and they would have gone top of the table with a victory at Goodsion. But pretty soon they discovered that the other team from Merseyside pack a punch as well.
Just one win in seven games has punctured the optimism created by Everton’s pace-setting start to the season.
But despite the drop in form, Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s standards haven’t slipped.
The England striker has 16 goals for club and country and he was up for it here, chasing his own flick-on before being taken out by Eduard Mendy.
Sigurdsson sent the keeper the wrong way from the penalty spot.
And that gave the home side something to hang onto.
There might have only been 2,000 returning fans inside Goodison but the theme from Z-Cars had never sounded so good to those lucky souls.
And when Chelsea responded to the shock of falling behind, they saw a brilliant Jordan Pickford save.
Reece James connected with a sweet half-volley but the England keeper dived to deflect the ball onto the inside of his post.
Pickford got some good fortune as well, watching as Mason Mount sent a chip just over an unguarded goal after the Everton man’s weak punch early in the second half.
Only a marginal VAR offside decision denied the Toffees another penalty when CalvertLewin was barged over by Ben Chilwell.
Mount went even closer with 10 minutes left when his curling free-kick hit the post and bounced away.