Roberto Martinez's men must have thought they'd weathered the storm but Willian's deflected strike snatched all three points after Gareth Barry's dismissal
Titles are won on nights like these.
Chelsea simply refused to give up even if they had to wait until the last minute before Brazilian playmaker Willian fired in the dramatic winner.
And it could not have been more typical Chelsea as it finished with a red card, a row and Jose Mourinho complaining about TV coverage.
This time it was BT rather than Sky as Mourinho did not appreciate questions as to whether Branislav Ivanovic should have been sent off.
Ivanovic appeared to head butt James McCarthy in the mass brawl as Gareth Barry was dismissed for a second yellow card after conceding the free kick which led to Willian's winner.
Chelsea rarely do things the easy way but the other side is their sheer resilience, never-say-die spirit and their refusal to settle for a draw is why they sit seven points clear of Manchester City.
City have reeled them in before but, from being level on points on New Year's Day, Chelsea have rediscovered a winning mentality and desire which was typified by their victory at Stamford Bridge.
Even when Chelsea are not at their best - and Petr Cech, Nemanja Matic and Eden Hazard aside they certainly didn't hit top gear last night - they still get their job done.
Cech justified his surprise selection ahead of Thibaut Courtois with a stunning point blank save from Romelu Lukaku. Cech is now just three behind David James' Premier League record of 170 clean sheets.
Hazard also never stopped running as he showed a desire which drove Chelsea forward and kept them going even when Everton were defying them at every turn.
Everton keeper Tim Howard almost single handedly kept Chelsea at bay with a string of stunning saves and it looked as if they had survived until the last gasp drama.
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