But it was the Blues from West London who went home with all 3 points, inflicting Everton's first home defeat of the season in the process.
Yet without Marcel Desailly, William Gallas and Carlo Cudicini- and a bit of help from the woodwork- Chelsea would have gone home with nothing.
The result was harsh on Everton but Chelsea don't care who they upset- they came here to win at all costs.
And we were handed the perfect start after just 5 minutes. Mario Stanic, retaining his place in the side, met a Graeme Le Saux corner with his head, beating Richard Wright and finding the back of the net.
Everton did fight back though, with Campbell and Radzinski looking menacing throughout. Yet it would be Chelsea who would grab the next goal on the half hour mark.
Frank Lampard stung Richard Wright's hands with a fierce drive and the ball fell to Jimmy who just does not miss from that sort of range. In all fairness, Wright should have hung on to the shot but you make your own luck over the course of the season.
With the half drawing to a close, Radzinski tested Cudicini but the Italian keeper was not ready to give up his clean sheet that easily. However, just minutes later Naysmith converted the simplest of chances to leave Carlo fuming with his defenders. That is how it remained until the break...
Everton produced a stirring scond half performanceto perhaps have warranted a point. Le Saux cleared off the line from Campbell, who should have scored and then minutes later, the Everton man hit the bar with a close range header.
How long would Blues last under this pressure? Well, as time was running out, there was a big fracas, with Jesper Gronkjaer and David Unsworth heavily involved right infront of the dugout. Had Arsenal been playing, I wonder if Monsieur Wenger would have "seen ze incident".
The ref adjudjed that Unsworth had struck Jesper in the face and therefore had to see red. Jesper escaped with a caution.
With just moments remaining, Everton had a penalty claim turned down and Chelsea swept forward on the counter attack. Eidur, on as a sub, swept a lovely ball forward and Zola had the whole Everton half to himself. However, rather than scoring himself, he laid the ball on to Jesper Gronkjaer who slotted into an empty net.
Of course, this prompted mass booing around Goodison after Jesper's involvement in Unsworth's sending off and, as the final whistle blew, David Moyes threw his jacket to the ground in disgust.
But nothing could take the sparkle of this day for Chelsea- up to second and right in the title picture. What a time to be a Chelsea fan!