Chelsea's slump continues in loss to Everton

Chelsea suffered their third loss in four games in the Premier League, falling 3-1 to an Everton side that played with renewed conviction under interim head coach Duncan Ferguson.

Richarlison, a 22-year-old Brazilian forward who recently extended his contract with Everton until 2024 and is a pillar of the club's future, opened the scoring in just the fifth minute when he headed a cross from Djibril Sidibe into the back of the net on Saturday.

Chelsea controlled possession and had more chances the rest of the first half, but they repeatedly failed to convert after working the ball into Everton's area, reports Efe news.

Those failures in the final third of the field came back to haunt them in the 49th minute, when the home side grabbed a 2-0 lead on a goal by Dominic Calvert-Lewin after a failed clearance.

Frank Lampard's men finally put the ball in the net three minutes later on a left-footed volley by Mateo Kovacic and then had chances in the ensuing minutes to equalize, with Mason Mount missing just wide of the post in one effort at the 64-minute mark.

But instead it was Calvert-Lewin who struck once again in the 84th minute for Everton to make the score 3-1, a goal that came after the Blues had once again scrambled unsuccessfully to clear the ball out of their area.

Chelsea is currently in fourth place in the Premier League with 29 points. But the sixth-place Wolves could move to within three points of the Blues with an away victory on Sunday over Brighton and Hove Albion.

Everton, meanwhile, jumped out of the relegation zone with the win and are currently in 14th place with 17 points.

( With inputs from IANS )