Chelsea was held to a frustrating goalless draw by Everton on Sunday, missing an opportunity to temporarily climb to the top of the league table.
Despite creating a handful of goalscoring chances in the first half, the Blues struggled to find the back of the net, resulting in the end of their impressive eight-game winning streak across all competitions.
Manager Enzo Maresca expressed his disappointment post-match, delivering a stern message to his players. He emphasised the importance of learning from challenging matches and adapting to both the opposition and the conditions.
“I was quite worried about this game. It’s a tricky game, tricky stadium, tricky team. They are defensively top. You struggle to create chances against them,” Maresca told reporters.
“You have to deal with it and learn to play different games. Long balls, second balls, channels, set pieces. Football is not only about how well we play on the ball. It’s also about how you defend and deal with that. I’m very proud today.
“Today’s game was a completely different game compared to the rest. You have to learn. It’s not easy but the way they showed togetherness has been brilliant today.
“In this kind of game, knowing you aren’t going to create many chances, you have to be clinical. In the first half, we had Nico one-on-one with the ‘keeper, the post from Nico, and another two or three chances inside the box.
“If you are able to be clinical there and score the game probably becomes completely different but until then you’re going to struggle.”
The draw leaves Chelsea four points adrift of league leaders Liverpool, who extended their dominance with a thrilling 6-3 victory over Tottenham.
Chelsea will now turn their focus to their next fixture, a Boxing Day clash against Fulham at Stamford Bridge.