Chelsea and West Brom charged by FA over flashpoint

Costa felt Claudio Yacob, already booked for a first-half foul, should have received a second yellow card for an off-the-ball trip on him early in the second half.

Saturday’s draw means the club is ever closer to relegation than the previously hoped for top four finish.

However, Hiddink leapt to the defence of Costa when asked if the player’s behaviour had crossed the line.

Scotland midfielder Morrison suffered a hamstring problem, which he had nursed into the game.

The draw with West Brom was proof of that. Fletcher prodded it to Gardner, who did the rest, shooting into the bottom corner from distance.

However, the home side appeared to be heading towards back-to-back league wins for the first time this season when Gareth McAuley put through his own net 16 minutes from time, before McClean’s intervention.

– Chelsea have conceded 31 times in their opening 21 matches this season, their highest total in a Premier League season at this stage.

And the belief Hiddink might oversee a dramatic transformation in Chelsea’s fortunes during the second half of the season has been gathering pace during his first three weeks in charge.

A 15-minute half-time break had seemingly done little to calm Costa and he collected a deserved booking at the start of the second-half for a late lunge on Gardner.

Chelsea captain John Terry was delighted to mark his 700th appearance for the club with an injury-time equaliser against Everton.

There are, though, potential options in the January transfer market, such as AC Milan star Carlos Bacca, West Bromwich Albion forward Saido Berahino or even unattached Emmanuel Adebayor, who could be signed on a six month deal.

Chelsea continued to press, with a deflected Costa effort going into the side-netting.

Howard denied Willian and Bryan Oviedo shot just wide for Everton, for whom former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku threatened. “Also in a new setting there may be influence of the new staff and manager, etc. There are question marks for Chelsea and the “yes-or-nos” to come in. We want to get out of this position we are in and we will if we show that kind of desire”.

Although Courtois did have reasons to be frustrated by more dropped points at home (18 points of a possible 33 have gone begging at the Bridge), Chelsea’s reluctance to trust their academy graduates is baffling.