Everton 2 Chelsea 1: Terry pays the price as Saha pounces to net Goodison winner
He had plenty of advance warning, but John Terry was still powerless to prevent Louis Saha adding to his woes and putting a dent in Chelsea's Barclays Premier League title hopes at Goodison Park last night.
The troubled Chelsea skipper has been in turmoil in recent weeks, following a series of indiscretions that cost him the England captaincy, and David Moyes advised him against expecting any upturn in fortunes as he prepared to lock horns with in-form former Manchester United striker Saha.
Everton's astute manager has proved himself a sound judge on many a previous occasion, and his reputation for calling the shots was duly reinforced as Saha intensified Terry's discomfort by equalising Florent Malouda's early opener and firing a dramatic winner in the 75th minute.
As he reflects on a calamitous evening for himself and his side, Terry may just conclude that, as in his private life, his latest misery was entirely self-inflicted.
A rare lapse of concentration cost him dearly for Saha's first goal and an equally unusual positional error carried an even greater price as he allowed Everton's lethal front- runner to advance unchallenged for his 14th goal of the season.
Moyes had based his calculations on Saha finally breaking free of any uncertainty over his future by signing a new two-year contract worth �55,000 a week. It enabled him to concentrate on what he does best, and Terry will be the latest to testify that few in the Premier League do it better.
In trouble: Saha takes advantage of Terry's recent woes and nips in to score the all-important goal
There had been little sign of the defensive mayhem to come for Chelsea as they started with their customary swagger in midfield, piecing together slick passing moves and leaving Everton chasing shadows.
Moyes may just have questioned the standard of defending, though, as Didier Drogba was allowed a free header from Petr Cech's clearance and Malouda held off a challenge from Phil Neville to drill a crisp low shot beyond Tim Howard.
That should have been the cue for Chelsea taking complete control, particularly as they had never lost with Malouda on the scoresheet, but Everton had other ideas as they hit back with a 33rd-minute leveller that highlighted another, far more worrying, statistic about Carlo Ancelotti's side.
As Landon Donovan swung over a corner from the right, Saha peeled away from Terry and planted a near-post header past Cech to leave Chelsea mulling over the stark reality that 16 of 21 set-pieces conceded in the league this season have led to goals.
If that came as a jolt, the alarm bells started sounding at the end of the half, as Saha had a point-blank shot blocked by Cech in the 44th minute and Ricardo Carvalho up-ended the lively Donovan just inside the area for the clearest of penalties.
Saha struck his kick well enough, but Cech read his intentions and took off to his left to palm it to safety and earn the gratitude of his team-mates, Carvalho in particular.
First blood: Malouda wastes no time putting Chelsea ahead at Goodison Park
Saha's demeanour as he trudged off seconds later, still reliving the miss and shaking his head in dismay, suggested it might have sapped his confidence. Appearances can be deceptive, however, as Chelsea were to discover in the 75th minute, as Terry erred once more and Saha made the most of his good fortune yet again.
All the know-how and experience that has made Terry one of England's most dependable defenders suddenly deserted him, as he jumped under a long through-ball from Sylvain Distin and looked on aghast at the sight of Saha chesting it down and volleying unerringly past Cech.
MATCH FACTS
EVERTON (4-4-1-1): Howard 6; Neville 7,
Heitinga 6, Distin 6, Baines 7; Donovan 8, Arteta 6 (Rodwell 74min), Osman 6,
Bilyaletdinov 5 (Gosling 86); Cahill 6;
Saha 7 (Senderos 90).
Booked: Donovan.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech 6; Ivanovic 7,
Terry 7, Carvalho 6, A Cole 6 (Ballack 56, 6); Mikel 7, Lampard 7, Zhirkov 6; Anelka
(Kalou 66, 6), Drogba 7, Malouda 6.
Booked: Mikel.
Man of the match: Landon Donovan.
Referee: Alan Wiley.
