Chelsea have returned from the international break with an authority that augurs well for Xabi Alonso. A brace from Pedro Neto condemned Everton to an inaugural defeat of the season as the visitors climbed to fourth on the back of their first Premier League clean sheet since January. A head injury sustained by Emi Martínez, who was carried off on a stretcher after seven minutes of treatment, was the only concern from a mature display in the Merseyside sunshine for Alonso’s team.
There were goalkeeping issues at both ends of the field with Jordan Pickford unconvincing for the second week in succession as David Moyes’ side suffered self-inflicted wounds. But Everton could have no complaints about the merits of Chelsea’s victory given their contrasting performances in the second half.
There was more needle than quality on display in a first half that Everton edged and could question why they were still facing 11 men by half-time. Morgan Rogers risked a second yellow card when leaping into a challenge with James Garner shortly before the break. The Chelsea forward caught the ball and the man but, beyond both players feeling the impact of the 50-50, there was no further punishment from referee Paul Tierney.
Rogers’s tackle was just as reckless as the one that brought an earlier booking for Harrison Armstrong, one of five yellows shown in a half that owed its entertainment to the animosity between the teams. The hosts’ grievance deepened when Rogers played a part in Neto’s breakthrough moments after the restart.
Having denied Chelsea their customary early goal – with Pickford saving from Cole Palmer and Jarrad Branthwaite blocking a goal-bound Jordan Henderson effort – Everton acquitted themselves well in the first half. They should have taken the lead from a corner awarded after Martínez was penalised for holding the ball too long. Garner’s initial delivery was poor, in keeping with Everton’s crossing for much of the game, but Jack Grealish supplied an inch-perfect cross at the second attempt for Thierno Barry. The unmarked Everton striker steered a tame header straight at Martínez from close range and the centre of the goal. Another big miss from Barry was one of several recurring themes that undermined Everton’s efforts.
The Chelsea keeper tipped over a Grealish volley as the home side maintained the pressure and also saved comfortably from Barry’s difficult attempt inside the box. The visitors began to turn the tide as the interval approached and were inches away from taking the lead in spectacular fashion. Moisés Caicedo pulled away to the back post for a 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 and duly punished. 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 low cross from the byline took a touch off James Tarkowski and found 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 Argentina international required lengthy treatment before being carried away with his neck in a brace and to the sound of Evertonian boos. Thankfully he did give a thumbs up to Branthwaite when the concerned Everton defender waited to wish him well.
Martínez’s replacement, Premier League debutant Mike Penders, was not seriously tested as the Everton threat petered out and Chelsea managed the closing stages well. Victory was sealed in the final minute of normal time when Henderson’s free-kick struck the head of Barry, rebounded off 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.
