Xabi Alonso was delighted with the way his Chelsea team acquitted themselves at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with a blend of defensive discipline, attacking cohesion and clinical finishing from Pedro Neto earning us three points and a first league clean sheet since January.
Neto bagged a second-half brace to secure us a 2-0 victory against Everton, and the Blues matched Everton’s intensity, particularly in a tetchy opening 45 minutes when tempers flared.
We took control of the contest right after the restart, though, and saw out the result with relative comfort, even adding a second late on to ensure there was no late drama during the 11 minutes added on following an injury to Emiliano Martinez. It was no surprise, then, that Alonso was so pleased afterwards.
‘We are very happy with the result and the performance,’ he said. ‘We needed one of these wins away, where we have played very professionally and seriously, looking solid. It was a very good win. We got many things right.
‘We looked in control of the game, there were moments for sure when we had to defend, especially in the first half, but overall the team looked mature, knew what to do in each moment, and knew we’d have our own moment. That happened in the second half.
‘After that, we were good with the ball, creating chances and not conceding much. To win away is always tough, and we got the clean sheet. We knew it was a matter of time and finally we got it.’
That clean sheet has been elusive, but it was thoroughly well earned. Martinez and his replacement Mike Penders stood tall when required, but in truth we restricted Everton to very few clear opportunities.
And Alonso wants to use this shutout as a platform to build upon. ‘We need to keep working; it’s just one game,’ he pointed out.
‘One [clean sheet this season] would be very poor; we need to get many more clean sheets in the rest of the league games.
'The first of the season feels good, so we have to keep going in this way, working well and being serious, and knowing that wherever we go we can play in an efficient and professional way, as we did today.’