Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was pleased with the performance of his side despite being held to a frustrating 0-0 draw with Everton.
Maresca's men could have gone top of the table with a victory, before Tottenham faced Liverpool later in the day, but the Toffees scuppered those chances with a battling display to end Chelsea's nine-match winning run in all competitions.
Despite having 12 shots, Chelsea accumulated an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.77, their lowest in any of their 17 Premier League matches this season and the fourth-lowest xG overall by a team to have had 12+ shots this term.
The Blues created little overall, despite having 74.6% possession, their highest average in a Premier League match this season and their most in the competition since February (77.3% v Crystal Palace).
Maresca still praised his players, viewing it as a superior display to the one which defeated Brentford 2-1 last week.
"I am very happy because the performance of the boys was fantastic," Maresca told BBC Sport.
"Sometimes you have to play a different game, and we are learning to play a different game. They are one of the best teams in Europe in terms of clean sheets.
"I said to the players I was more happy than [last week's] game at Brentford [Chelsea won 2-1], we tried everything."
Scoreless draw.#CFC | #EVECHE pic.twitter.com/qwNlAVIJlt
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 22, 2024
Everton, meanwhile, put an end to Chelsea’s 15-match scoring run in the Premier League, with the Blues failing to score for the first time in the league since a 0-2 defeat to Manchester City on the opening day of the season.
Since the beginning of October, the Toffees have kept seven clean sheets in the top-flight, the most of any team across Europe’s top five leagues. They have also kept five clean sheets across their last six league matches.
But Sean Dyche believes his side could have walked away with an important three points.
"We could have nicked it. Chances were minimal. They had a couple and we had a couple towards the end, we take a point," Dyche told BBC Sport.
Dyche also spoke of his pride in his players after two battling performances against two of the top three sides in the league which has seen them earn draws in both.
"You have to be willing to put a shift in and I think that was on show today," said Dyche.
"I've never not been proud of these players, we've come through a storm. I respect them."