There seems to be no end to the personal misery of Cole Palmer.
But Nicolas Jackson ended his own scoring dried to bring Chelsea a huge step closer to the Champions League place that will mean so much.
Palmer is waiting for his first goal since mid -January now has 17 games and counting.
While the England struggled to make some impression against an Everton side that only started playing in the last half hour, it was difficult to see how Enzo Maresca's suggestion is his misery a “mental” is that someone has done a lot of good.
Palmer is a pale imitation of the player who was so good for his first season and a half at the bridge.
Those naughty runs, the confident films and brutal self -confidence have disappeared, looking a shadow of the player who scored four against the Toffees in the corresponding match previous term.
You can see that it also influences him, long before he was finished in a stopping time when the home fans bit their fingernails through the dying minutes on either side of the crucial rescue of Robert Sanchez of Dwight McNeil.
But for Chelsea and Maresca, forced to watch from the back of the press box while he was suspended from the dug, this was an essential victory.
Jackson's excellent turn and strike just before the half hour his own spell of four months ended without finding the net to expand the Stamford Bridge-Elkende for David Moyes and Everton.
It was also a quality finish after Trevoh Chalabah Beto had played to feed Enzo Fernandes, with the Senegal striker that ran on a sixpence to weigh past the right hand of Jordan Pickford.
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In reality it was no more than a matte Everton also earned, with David Moyes' game plan clear about it long enough to stay in the game for home nerves to brighten.
Moyes' Winless Run in SW6 is now at 25 games and counting, while Everton last passed three points from the bridge in 1994.
And although the winner of Jackson was an emphatic answer to his doubters, none of the other three stripes ever really looked like ending.
Chelsea played, for a large part of a match, in a modest, almost listless atmosphere, a lot of superior – without grabbing the bull at the horns.
Maresca had parked herself in the corner of the rear row of the press box and opted for the semi -restricted “Letterbox” view of the field.
On the other hand, many blues fans have watched many of this season with their fingers in front of their eyes.
In all honesty, despite Palmer's cloak of invisibility, this was not one of those.
Full-backs Moises Caicedo and Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke, who operated from the left, were the striking artists.
Madueke was refused for the first time by Pickford's left hand after playing a nice one-two with Cucurella before he went to the edge of the box.
But while England's keeper was lucky to get away with a weak blow directly to Cucurella – Chelsea rightly demanded a corner when the last touch came from Iliman Ndiaye – the “error” of the officials led directly to the goal.
Pickford's goal post to Beto was selected by Chalobah to turn on the movement that ended as Jackson spans and immediately shot from 20 Yards.
Jackson's reaction to the end of his own 13 -match scoring drought – his previous goal came against Brentford in December – was a mixture of pleasure and relief.
The home fans did not switch on the Senegal striker.
However, they are less enthusiastic about Sanchez – although the keeper ended the hero of the hour with two vital second half stops.
Sanchez remains a strange mix, his decision -making and handling his line enough to wonder if Chelsea certainly has a better option under their battalion of Handhoeing people.
But when it mattered, both sides saves two great pickford – one with his left foot, the other with his left glove – the Spaniard firmly.
The first came with what Beto's last touch was before he was picked up, a snapshot of the edge of the box that was on his way to the bottom corner before Sanchez jumped to the right.
And three minutes of time, just after the flag, Jackson denied his second of the afternoon when Pickford was unable to hold Cucurella's Low 18-Yarder, and with the fingernails of the home fans who started to be bitten, Sanchez made a big game.
Carlos Alcaraz, whose half-time introduction had made a difference for a completely ineffective Ilian Ndiaye, the left to the penalty spot burst.
Colleague substitute McNeil had to adjust his feet because the ball was slightly behind him, but still made enough contact on the volley to hit the target.
But again, Sanchez, however, expected to the right, and got enough on the ball to ensure that it left a corner.
It was enough to secure the points. Chelsea remains Masters of their Champions League Destiny, although with Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Forest to play, they have by far the toughest run-in of the contenders.
To get over the line, they definitely need Palmer to rediscover his mojo. Fast.