Jorrel Hato was pleased to see the hard work put in on the training pitch in recent weeks come to fruition with an important win at Everton, which he believes provides a strong platform to continue building on.
A brace of goals by Pedro Neto at either end of the second half secured our first-ever three points at the Hill Dickinson Stadium and moved us up to fourth place in the Premier League table with a 2-0 victory over the Toffees.
However, just as important as the winning goals was the clean sheet at the other end of the pitch, our first in the league of 2026/27 under Xabi Alonso.
Speaking after the win, Hato confirmed that shut-out was a key aim for the Blues going into this game and something they had been working hard to achieve on the training pitch at Cobham recently.
‘That was one of our goals,’ said the defender. ‘Of course, we score a lot of goals, everyone knows this, but now we finally have our own clean sheet and as a team it's good.
‘We didn't give many chances away, or big chances, so that's solid and we keep going. Now we have to go forward with it and keep as many clean sheets as we can.
‘When we came back from the international break, everyone knew that we have a good team and we score a lot of goals, but defensively it had to be better. We had to do it, and I think we showed it against Bournemouth and again against Everton.’
That clean sheet arrived despite the loss of Emiliano Martinez during the second half to a nasty injury, with it being confirmed this morning that our goalkeeper has now undergone successful surgery on a fractured jaw.
‘Of course, when a moment like this happens, everyone is in shock. But of course, the game goes on for another 20 minutes. So we were just saying to each other: “stay focused”. I think we did a good job. We scored to make it 2-0 and finish off the game.’
Despite the set-back of losing Martinez, it was a strong second-half showing from the Blues on Merseyside to claim all the points and leapfrog opponents Everton in the standings.
Now, Hato is looking to keep building on the momentum from that victory and the previous week’s win over Bournemouth, with a London derby against Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge to come next.
‘I think we started well after the break, and now it’s two games and two wins, so we have to keep going,’ the Dutchman added.
‘There are a lot of games coming, and great games to play as well, so we have to keep going.’