A 89th minute winner from Willian was enough for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, who beat Everton 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Jose Mourinho’s side started the game well with Nemanja Matic coming close with a rasping effort after a good run through midfield but his shot went just over the crossbar and failed to trouble Tim Howard.
Despite the home side’s dominance, Everton bounced back through Romelu Lukaku, who tested Petr Cech, replacing Thibaut Courtois for the midweek game.
Chelsea continued to look for an opener and came close through Loic Remy, who was found by new signing Juan Cuadrado, but Howard was equal to the Frenchman.
Cech was then in fine form once more in the second half to deny Lukaku, who had the goal at his mercy from close range.
The game then turned nasty after Gareth Barry was sent off for a second bookable offence. The former Aston Villa and Man City midfielder started what turned into to a 22 man brawl which heavily involved Ivanovic and James McCarthy.
With the clock running down, Chelsea pushed for a winner and it finally came through Willian, who sent a half volley into the bottom corner to seal the points.