Chelsea draw hard to swallow for Tuchel: We had enough chances to win

Thomas Tuchel was left to rue Chelsea’s missed opportunities in their Premier League stalemate with Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea squandered the opportunity to cut the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City as their injury-hit opponents held out for a hard-earned 1-1 draw on Thursday.

Tuchel’s Chelsea registered 80.3 per cent of the possession and 23 shots, but could only convert one courtesy of Mason Mount’s fourth in as many games.

And the hosts were made to pay for their failure to capitalise while in the ascendancy; Jarrad Branthwaite equalising when he turned home Anthony Gordon’s free-kick to secure a share of the spoils for the Toffees.

It also marked the third time in six games that Tuchel’s side had dropped points from a winning position – and they are now four behind leaders and defending champions City.

A frustrating evening, thanks for your support as ever Blues. pic.twitter.com/KGtmy1KqQZ

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 16, 2021

“We gave away another lead. If we see in a match like this the effort we need to score one goal and the effort the opponent needs to score an equaliser, it’s hard to swallow,” he told BT Sport.

“I think we missed big chances in the first half to get the result. In the second half, we did not find the rhythm consistently and tried to bring on some energy from the bench, but it was a bit hard. 

“We had the lead and gave it away with one free-kick.

“In football, there isn’t a game where you can have one reason why things go this way. One big reason, for sure, is the chances we missed today; we could have been two or 3-0 up and playing with fire.

“We had enough chances and quality to win the game, and did not.”

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 27 Premier League home games against Everton (W15 D12), equalling their longest ever unbeaten home run against an opponent in their league history (27 against Tottenham between 1990 and 2016).

At (22years 340days), Mount is the youngest player to score in four consecutive Premier League appearances for Chelsea – the England international has scored seven times in the Premier League this season; his joint-best tally alongside 2019-20.