Everton defeated Chelsea at Goodison Park on Sunday to claim three vital points in the tit-for-tat fight for Premier League survival.

Here, evertonfc.com analyses the main talking points from a rousing and unforgettable afternoon in L4.

Lampard's Right About Everton Support

Frank Lampard began his post-match assessment by pointing to the enormous influence of Evertonians on a home performance awash with vitality and ambition.

Given Lampard got pretty much everything else right on a tumultuous afternoon, it would be remiss to do anything other than follow the lead of Everton’s impassioned manager and start here with a refelction on the part played by supporters in this victory.

He’s all in with this club Lampard, developing an affection for Everton almost overnight to rival a Gwladys Street denizen of 60 years.

Lampard, then, identified kindred spirits in the “Everton crazy men, women and youngsters”, who filled Goodison Road far in advance of kick-off.

By the time the coach carrying Lampard and his players squeezed through the compact street, the air was filled with Everton songs delivered with guttural feeling – “nice aggression”, was Lampard’s pleasing description of the prevailing mood – and plumes of blue smoke.

Evertonians transformed a dank bank holiday afternoon into a carnival of colour and anticipation and intensity.

It all served, in Lampard’s view, to provide his players with a reminder of what Everton means to its supporters.

Without wishing to sound twee, Evertonians’ feelings for their Club run far deeper than matters on the pitch.

Everton is a way of life and the team’s significance in those peoples’ existence was illustrated when the early-afternoon atmosphere transferred inside Goodison’s four walls.

Walls that shook from start to finish of a spine-tingling, nerve-shredding contest.

Evertonians plainly own a certain amount of prescience, too, given the giant banner unfurled as Z-Cars sounded over the PA, paying tribute to Jordan Pickford, who would prove one of the heroes of a potentially pivotal contetst.

Jose Mourinho, the manager under whom Lampard savoured some of his finest playing achievements at Chelsea, had it right about Goodison.

“It is always beautiful with a great crowd and a great stadium,” the Portuguese once observed, adding that his teams routinely competed with Everton, in addition to “40,000 referees” on visits to L4.

And how all four sides of the ground joined to contest every decision, however big or seemingly inconsequential.

Chelsea, denied a restful pre-match sleep, apparently, must have wondered what on earth they’d walked into.

For clarity, the London team had the misfortune to come across Everton on a day when Goodison throbbed to the beat of supporters refusing to countenance a bottom-three finish.

The scale of support, the sheer enormity of feeling for a football team, “is not the norm… it is special” concluded Lampard.

He was right. Again.

Richarlison The Season Changer?

In Everton’s past two home matches alone Richarlison, the indefatigable Brazilian, has conjured contributions directly responsible for three points.

Without the goal against Chelsea – which resulted from a flurry of activity that epitomised Everton’s display across 90 (plus an awful lot of) minutes – and late equaliser to deny Leicester City victory at Goodison Park a fortnight ago, Frank Lampard’s team would be pinned five points behind both Leeds United and Burnley.

A very instructive statistic surfaced as the dust settled on Sunday’s fiery Goodison fixture.

It related to ‘game state changing goals’ of Premier League players who have struck 30 times or more since the beginning of 2016/17.

Richarlison has scored 45 top-flight goals in that period, of which 37 – 82 per cent – have immediately altered the state of the match: changing parity into a winning position, or a losing predicament into level terms.

That 82-per-cent figure surpasses anything managed by rivals in the same category.

The fact that Everton boast Brazil’s number 9 in their ranks is held up as a tick in the plus column for survival chances.

That assertion carries particular weight because it is routinely expressed by people who watch the 24-year-old in action and isn’t confined to those forming opinions on names and reputations.

We are running out of superlatives for Richarlison’s attitude to his football.

He has scored four goals in his past five Premier League matches, putting his hand up when his team needs him most.

The forward could have become disheartened when two ice-cool penalties on a white-hot night at Burnley ultimately counted for nothing.

Within 72 hours, however, he was chasing about like a man possessed in the victory over Manchester United.

And against Chelsea, Richarlison, once more, was his customary package of industry and aggression, boasting an insatiable appetite for the ugly side of the game.

That hunger for the chase, the desire to put himself front and centre of the fight, paid off in spades when Richarlison mugged Cesar Azpilicueta, the ordinarily accomplished Spaniard taking one touch too many on the fringes of Chelsea’s penalty box.

Richarlison demonstrated tremendous presence of mind to continue a forward run, as Azpilicueta tangled with Demarai Gray, and the sureness of touch to roll the ball beyond goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

A game state changing goal? Definitely. A season state changing goal? Potentially?

England’s Number One

For Brazil’s first-choice centre-forward at one end of the pitch, read the best goalkeeper in England at the opposite end of the field.

There have been moments this season to give cause to wonder what Jordan Pickford must do to garner praise.

Well, perhaps we found our answer here.

Essentially, the 28-year-old needs to supply a viable save-of-the-season contender. Then, for extra measure, “take one in the kipper”, as Pickford had it following a remarkable stop with his face from Antonio Rudiger’s thundering close-range drive.

Pickford employed extraordinary athleticism and awareness and agility to deny Cesar Azpilicueta after Mason Mount played pinball off both goalposts.

He demonstrated enormous courage to repel Rudiger’s attempt. Pickford rushing at the German and using whichever body part worked to get the job done epitomised his team’s ‘they shall not pass’ attitude.

There were further stops – one high, one low – to thwart Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mateo Kovacic.

“That save where he’s come back off the line and parried away, it’s world-class,” said Seamus Coleman, who delivered an archetypal captain’s performance, leading by both deed and voice.

“We see that from Jordan on a daily basis in training and it’s the reason why he’s England’s number one.”

The player’s manager had a similar take: “That is why he is England’s number one,” said Frank Lampard, immediately cutting to the heart of the point, as he analysed a keeper who has clean sheets from 21 of 43 England appearances and has reached one major final and one major semi-final with his country.

“It is such a tough position because people want to shout you down.

“In a game of this critical nature, they were fast and technically-brilliant and brave saves – it was top-level goalkeeping.

“People expect those saves but they are not normal – they were huge saves that won us two points.

“When he produces like that you understand the level of player he is.”

Yes, the best in England at his job.

Mina Reaffirms Importance And Mykolenko Continues Growth

There were plenty of plaudits for Yerry Mina following the towering Colombian’s redoubtable display in the middle of Everton’s back four.

Rightly so, because the dependable and exuberant Mina unquestionably makes a difference for Everton.

Jonathan Woodgate, formerly an exceptional central defender for Leeds United and Real Madrid and England, chose to highlight Mina’s contribution on Match of the Day 2.

Retain the spine of Jordan Pickford, Mina, Fabian Delph and Richarlison, reckons Woodgate, and Everton will ease clear of trouble.

The numbers attached to Mina support Woodgate’s claim.

Mina has lasted beyond 75 minutes on nine occasions across the competitions this term and Everton have won four and drawn three of those matches.

There is no escaping the value of Mina, then. Frank Lampard opted against risking the player in last week’s Merseyside derby following a comeback from injury days earlier, in another signal of Mina’s likely pivotal role in this Everton side over the season's closing weeks.

Operating on the 27-year-old’s far left against Chelsea, and equally deserving of praise, was Vitalii Mykolenko.

This was a sixth straight Premier League start for the Ukranian, a figure unrecognisable from the one who confessed to experiencing inhibiting pre-match nerves ahead of a debut against Hull City, seven days after completing a New Year’s Day transfer from Dynamo Kyiv.

Mykolenko actually did okay in that Cup tie four months ago – there was one goalline clearance, for instance – but the player’s growth in confidence and stature in the meantime are evident.

His defending is sharp and assured and he adds balance and thrust on the overlap.

Mykolenko’s adaptation to Premier League football has been complicated by off-field matters.

It is difficult to separate the issues in his homeland from Mykolenko’s opening months as an Everton footballer.

But the 22-year-old has shown tremendous fortitude and maturity and an ability to mentally compartmentalise different strands of his life.

Concentrating solely on the football, Mykolenko had to wait for Lampard’s reign to enter its third month before gaining a foothold in the team.

He did very well starting at West Ham United four weeks ago and subsequently received very good reviews for performances against Manchester United and Leicester City.

Indeed, Mykolenko was man of the match for a few judges’ money after a notable part in frustrating United’s pursuit of a leveller at Goodison Park.

This was another step up in that derby game and Mykolenko relished his task in combat with Mohamed Salah.

The imperative of Everton’s league position meant this was another high-stakes affair for a young man thrust into a high-pressure environment.

Mykolenko, fit and focused and disciplined in his advanced wing-back position, was fundamental to the performance of an Everton team to which he is increasingly integral.

Only The Start

Amid the exultation following the final whistle at Goodison Park, it was easy to be swept along by the idea that Everton have done the heavy lifting in their survival battle.

Frank Lampard was probably aware of that particular danger and quickly signposted the importance of remaining level headed.

Now, insisted Lampard, is not the time to relax. Everton are two points behind the two teams immediately above them – all available evidence suggests neither Leeds nor Burnley will go quietly – but still have their joker to play in the form of a game in hand.

Above all, there is a growing momentum and belief taking hold of Lampard's team. But the manager has seen this story before in his short period at Goodison; the acquistion of positive home results and conseuquent feelgood factor, only for a mood-reducing away defeat to intervene.

With two away matches in the offing – at Leicester City and Waford – attention immediately turns to addressing Everton's travel sickness.

Should they find a cure for those away ills, Lampard's side would return to Goodison for two fixtures that could potentially settle this fight in Everton's favour.

It is a tantalising thought. But, in keeping with the boss' approach, once more, one we won't indulge for now.

Everton still have a job to do and it begins next Sunday at Leicester.