Everton FC 0-0 Chelsea

Chelsea's run of 11 straight Premier League victories away from home is over after Monday night's goalless draw at Everton.

ohn Terry's red card for a reckless challenge on Leon Osman in the first half could be largely blamed, but referee Phil Dowd seemed sure that his decision was correct.

Chelsea's best chance came right at the start of the match but Tim Howard denied Ashley Cole with a smart save.

Everton had a late goal disallowed with Steven Pineaar correctly judged offside as a combination and he and Chelsea's Michael Ballack forced the ball over the line after goalkeeper Petr Cech made a reflex save from Leon Osman's shot.

Cech came up a some other good saves throughout the clash - one late on from a Joleon Lescott header - as Chelsea held on for a point.

The draw is not good enough for Chelsea to return to the top of the table.

It's as you were at the top of the Premier League before the start of the weekend, with Chelsea a point behind leaders Liverpool.

As for Everton, they stay seventh but the result also means they have now set an unwanted club record.

They have now failed to beat Chelsea 21 times in a row - the worst run against a single team in their history.

After the game Cech insisted his team had earned a good point after playing for nearly an hour with 10 men.

"It's a tough place to come," the Czech Republic international told Setanta Sports. "They have been playing well recently and got a big result last week against Manchester City in the last minute so they were in a positive mood and with the crowd behind them.

"It's a tough place to come with 11 men .We were down to 10, but we kept the ball and controlled the game quite well even with 10. They had the extra man so of course they had chances from set plays but we can be satisfied.

"It's a pity we couldn't win. We could have been top of the league again but it's a good point."

Cech also refused to criticise Dowd for the decision to send off Terry.

"It's hard to say because I was far from it," he said.

"It was hard for the ref to see what happened. He had a split second... he made a decision and we have to live with that. It happens sometimes you play with 10 men."

Everton manager David Moyes insisted his side had genuine designs on victory, despite labouring to make their numerical advantage count.

Their cause was not aided by the lack of a recognised striker, something Moyes continues to rue.

"We wanted the win even before the sending-off. We tried to get the goal and the players did everything we could ask," he said.

"Obviously we are short of centre forwards and maybe that was the difference.

"They filled the middle of the park when they went down to 10 men and we tried to go round them. If we'd have got to the byline a bit more often we might have scored some goals; the one time we did get to they byline I think we nearly scored."

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