Nicolas Jackson dragged down the tunnel as temper boils over after Everton beat Chelsea | Football | Sport

Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson was dragged away from a heated post-match exchange after the Blues were beaten by Everton at Goodison Park. Goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure and Lewis Dobbin condemned the visitors to yet another disappointing defeat and it did not take long for tempers to flare up after the final whistle.

Jackson was at the heart of proceedings, with the 22-year-old getting involved in a furious row with a number of Everton players just moments after the game had finished. He needed to be restrained by his team-mates as tensions boiled over and was quickly dragged away, with a Chelsea member of staff escorting him down the tunnel.

The result at Goodison Park was another frustrating one for the Blues, who are on a run of two straight losses in the Premier League since their narrow win over Brighton earlier this month. They remain firmly rooted in mid-table and sit 14 points adrift of the division’s top four after losing seven of their 16 games this season.

Everton took the lead just after the interval when Doucoure prodded home a loose ball after Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s initial effort was saved by Robert Sanchez. The hosts were rarely troubled by Chelsea’s tame attack, with Jackson missing a huge chance to equalise in the closing stages when he failed to connect cleanly with the ball.

Any hopes of a last-gasp leveller were quashed when Everton doubled their lead through Dobbin, who fired home from a corner to make sure of all three points. Moments earlier, the visitors were forced to replace Sanchez with substitute goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic after the Spaniard failed to shake off a knock, while Reece James picked up yet another injury and was hooked before the half-hour mark.

Mauricio Pochettino was highly critical of Chelsea’s lack of attacking threat when quizzed on what went wrong in his post-match interview. He told the BBC: « Football is about scoring goals and we were not clinical in front of goal. I’m really, really disappointed.

« We didn’t get the point we deserved. I think we were better but we didn’t get what we wanted. This was a game to play and to win. It’s a problem we need to check. We need to analyse the reality. We need to talk and to try to improve in the next transfer market. »

On the latest injury suffered by James, Pochettino explained: « He felt something in his hamstring. It’s not so nice for him to suffer another injury. He is an important player. »

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