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By KIERAN GILL Published: 23: 27 AEST, 26 April 2025 | Updated: 00: 48 AEST, 27 April 2025 24 View comments Considering how long Nicolas Jackson had waited to score a goal – 14 games and since December 15 – there was no hesitation when he cocked back his right leg from 20 yards. The striker’s instincts kicked in at last and with it, Chelsea’s season still lives. Enzo Maresca’s side had to win to stay in the Champions League chase and Chelsea’s head coach took in this game from the Stamford Bridge press box, having decided to spend his touchline ban with us scribes rather than in the hospitality section. He celebrated as if he had conjured up the perfect intro when Jackson scored beyond Jordan Pickford. Cole Palmer could not follow suit – he is now 17 games without a goal – but Maresca will happily take the way this played out. It is one goal drought down, one to go, and the Blues boss said: ‘The good thing was that we were strong, nasty enough when we needed to be like that. Overall we deserved to win. Nico finally found the goal today. Hopefully Cole soon can score goals. It's just a matter of time for all of them. ’ In further good news for Maresca, Romeo Lavia emerged unscathed on his first start since January 14 and Robert Sanchez was stellar in goal, deserving as much credit as anyone for this win. James Tarkowski had been as reliable as an old shoe for Everton, forever available ever since signing from Burnley in 2022. But for the first time in the Premier League, he was sidelined for the visitors, a hamstring injury ending his remarkable run of 111 consecutive starts. Nicolas Jackson scored his first goal since December 15 to help Chelsea beat Everton 1-0 Chelsea moved up to fourth place in the table, now one point behind Manchester City in third Meanwhile, Everton remain 13th but could slip down to 17th if teams behind them win this week Without him, David Moyes’ side struggled to have their usual defensive stability as Chelsea created chances. After 26 minutes, Marc Cucurella’s scuffed shot nearly fell to Palmer for a tap-in. Chelsea insisted they should have had a corner and were annoyed when referee Christopher Kavanagh awarded a goal-kick to Everton. However, that turned into a blessing for the home side. Only 16 seconds after that goal-kick had been taken, it was 1-0 as Pickford played a long pass into Beto. Trevoh Chalobah pressed aggressively, winning the ball from behind cleanly and cleverly. Enzo Fernandez picked up the ball and punched it into Jackson, who controlled, turned and let loose from 20 yards. It was the first-ever time that Jackson had scored from outside of the box and you could feel the emotional release in his celebration. Pickford produced several super saves – namely stopping Noni Madueke from scoring – while Sanchez was refusing to concede at the other end as he denied Beto, Idrissa Gueye and Dwight Mc Neil. With that, Chelsea moved up to fourth ahead of the weekend’s other fixtures. Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez 7. 5; Caicedo 7, Chalobah 7, Colwill 6. 5, Cucurella 6. 5; Lavia 7 (James 67, 6), Fernandez 7; Madueke 7 (Sancho 78), Palmer 6 (Dewsbury-Hall 90), Neto 7; Jackson 7 (George) Subs (not used): Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Nkunku, Acheampong Scorers: Jackson (27) Manager: Enzo Maresca 7 Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford 5. 5; Patterson 5. 5 (Young 64, 6), O’Brien 5. 5, Branthwaite 6, Mykolenko 5; Garner 5. 5, Gueye 5; Harrison 5 (Mc Neil 63, 6), Doucoure 5, Ndiaye 5 (Alcaraz 45, 6); Beto 5 (Chermiti 64, 6) Subs (not used): Virginia, Begovic, Keane, Coleman, Iroegbunam Manager: David Moyes 5. 5 Referee: Christopher Kavanagh 6 Attendance: 39, 845
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