05/05/2001  Chelsea 2 Everton 1
 
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink grabbed two great goals in two minutes as Chelsea came 
back stylishly from conceding a goal in the opening 80 seconds to virtually 
clinch a place in the UEFA Cup.

But Stamford Bridge fans jeered manager Claudio Ranieri for taking off hero 
Gianfranco Zola eight minutes from the end when Chelsea's nerves were being 
shredded by Walter Smith's plucky Everton side.

The fans chanted "Vialli, Vialli" in testament to their sacked former boss 
as Ranieri committed his latest public relations blunder by removing Zola, who 
thrilled his adoring admirers by agreeing a new two-year deal earlier this week 
when all the odds had pointed to him leaving at the end of the season.

But the jeers soon turned to cheers again as the gifted 34-year-old Sardinian 
led a parade of his fellow players at the end of the last home game of the 
campaign.

Chelsea should have walked away with the points despite carelessly conceding a 
second-minute goal to Kevin Campbell's header.

Hasselbaink grabbed the plaudits with two wonder-strikes to finally put some 
sanity in the scoreline after Chelsea had dominated but Everton, who had been on 
the back-foot for nearly 70 minutes, suddenly discovered some late verve to 
almost wreck the party.

Hasselbaink made amends for some slapdash finishing early on  with a lovely 
piece of work to equalise a minute past the half-hour mark - and then an even 
better finish to grab the lead less than two minutes later.

Gus Poyet's low, diagonal ball in from the left found him on the edge of the 
area where he cleverly turned Michael Ball and ran on to slot past Gerrard.

And before Everton could regroup, the Dutchman registered his 23rd goal of the 
season with a perfect chip over Paul Gerrard after a flowing passing move 
between Zola, Poyet and Eidur Gudjohnsen helped him undress the Merseysiders' 
defence.

Poyet almost added a third for rampant Chelsea when he headed just over from 
Zola's cross after another smart attack opened up Everton and the little Italian 
cleared the bar by inches with a cracking drive when David Unsworth only 
half-cleared.

The chances kept coming in the second half despite Everton manager Walter 
Smith's reshuffle which brought Gary Naysmith into midfield.

And Hasselbaink spurned two chances to put the points beyond doubt for 
Chelsea. It almost proved costly as Everton rediscovered the motivation to make
a fight of it in the last 20 minutes.

Idan Tal, whose early corner had led to unmarked Campbell's headed goal after 
Steve Watson put the ball back into the goalmouth, extracted a fine save from 
Carlo Cudicini when he moved onto a lovely crossfield ball by Mark Pembridge.

And skipper David Weir, who had kept Everton in it with a headed clearance 
from under his own crossbar after substitute Jesper Gronkjaer hung up a teasing 
cross that sailed over Paul Gerrard, claimed a penalty when the Dutch striker 
appeared to push him down in the Chelsea area.

Then Tal was just wide with first a header and then a shot and it was too 
close for comfort in the end for Chelsea, whose nervous fans took out their 
anxiety on Ranieri.

Chelsea still need three points from their last two games to clinch the 
European place, but if they succeed it will still be a season of 
under-achievement for a side who remain capable of superb football but also 
prone to carelessness.