Chelsea have returned from the international break with a spirit, authority and resilience that augurs well for Xabi Alonso. Their troubles at Everton, not a happy hunting ground in recent years, were confined to the seven minutes Emi Martínez needed treatment for a head injury as Pedro Neto’s double delivered a deserved victory in the Merseyside sunshine.
The Argentina goalkeeper was taken to hospital for tests after an accidental collision with Jarrad Branthwaite left him with suspected concussion. “When he left the stadium he was conscious,” Alonso said. “Hopefully it is not too bad but we need to wait.” A first Premier League clean sheet since January, and a second successive win since losing at Brentford before the Nations League break, were otherwise secured with a minimum of fuss in a commanding second-half performance.
“It’s one day,” the Chelsea manager replied when asked whether victory, built on a feisty first-half display and mature second, provided evidence of the mentality he craves at Stamford Bridge. “We need to repeat it again and again and again to know for sure but the mentality was very good. Sometimes it’s not about playing nice but playing good football, winning many second balls and being efficient. We need a game like this. The feeling at Brentford was that it was not enough. Today has been better but it’s just one. When it’s 10 clean sheets …”
There were goalkeeping problems at both ends of the field, with Jordan Pickford unconvincing for the second week in a row for Everton. David Moyes’s side edged the first half and could have legitimate complaints about Morgan Rogers avoiding a second yellow card moments before the break. But from Pickford’s weak attempt to stop Neto’s opener to Thierno Barry missing their one big chance of the contest, there were self-inflicted wounds in Everton’s first defeat of the season.
“It wasn’t that we played that badly overall,” said Moyes. “We just didn’t create enough which meant if we did anything wrong defensively it would count against us.” So it proved.
There was more needle than quality in the first half and Rogers, already booked, was extremely fortunate to avoid a second yellow card from the referee, Paul Tierney, when leaping into a challenge with James Garner. The Chelsea forward caught the ball and the man. The tackle could be considered just as reckless as the one that brought an earlier booking for Harrison Armstrong.
Barry wasted Everton’s best chance when heading a Jack Grealish cross straight at Martínez from close range. Another big miss from Barry was one of several recurring themes that undermined Everton’s afternoon.
Chelsea began to contain the hosts and turn the tide as the interval approached. They were inches away from taking the lead in spectacular fashion. Moisés Caicedo pulled away to the back post for a Jordan Henderson corner that arrived exactly where the training ground routine required. His thunderous volley flew past Pickford but smacked the crossbar, leaving it shaking for several seconds.
Neto forced a decent save from the Everton keeper from distance in first-half stoppage time and beat him from much closer range 44 seconds after the restart. As in the draw at Hull last weekend, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Pickford were found wanting defensively. Rogers was somewhat inevitably involved when releasing Jorrel Hato, Alonso’s one enforced change from the 5-1 defeat of Bournemouth, away from Maitland-Niles down the Chelsea left. Hato’s cross took a fortunate touch off James Tarkowski en route to Neto, whose shot beat Pickford’s weak attempt to save low to his left.
Goalkeeping worries took on a far more serious complexion when Branthwaite collided with Martínez as they challenged for a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall free-kick. The Chelsea keeper required lengthy treatment before being carried away with his neck in a brace and to the uncomfortable sound of Evertonian boos. Thankfully he gave a thumbs up to Branthwaite when the concerned Everton defender waited to wish him well.
Martínez’s replacement, Mike Penders on his Premier League debut, was not seriously tested as the Everton threat petered out and Chelsea maintained control of the second half. Victory was sealed in the final minute of normal time when Henderson’s free-kick struck the head of Barry, rebounded off the Everton substitute Tyrique George and Vitalii Mykolenko, before dropping to Neto. The Chelsea winger rolled a confident finish past Pickford’s despairing dive into the bottom corner.
