Pedro Neto goals right at the start and end of the second half secured Chelsea a superb first win against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The Blues battled hard in a fractious opening 45 minutes, matching Everton’s intensity and energy, just as Xabi Alonso had demanded pre-match.
We might have opened the scoring through Moises Caicedo or Maxence Lacroix before Neto broke the deadlock just 43 seconds after the restart, tucking his finish away after fine work from Jorrel Hato down the left.
The only disappointment on the day was what looked a nasty injury suffered by Emiliano Martinez, who was replaced by Mike Penders with plenty of the game remaining. We continued to stand tall in defence, though, and sealed the win when Neto swept home a loose ball from 12 yards out.
As satisfying as three well-earned points on the road is a first clean sheet in the Premier League since January, no mean feat in a fixture in which shutouts and indeed wins have been hard to come by in recent years.
Alonso made a solitary change to the side that defeated Bournemouth, with Hato coming in for Pep Chavarria on the left-hand side of defence after the Spaniard picked up a knock in training yesterday.
Scrappy start
There was to be no early goal for Chelsea as both sides scrapped hard in the opening stages. Much of the play was restricted to action in the middle third of the pitch. The first shot in anger arrived on 15 minutes from the left foot of Cole Palmer, 20 yards out, with Jordan Pickford equal to it.
A sustained spell of Chelsea possession and territorial dominance culminated in our best chance yet after Neto got in down the right and cut the ball back to Jordan Henderson, whose shot was blocked before it could test Pickford.
Martinez made his first save to deny Merlin Rohl but was then penalised for holding onto the ball too long. From the resulting corner, a second cross from Jack Grealish found an unmarked Thierno Barry, who headed straight at Martinez. With the half-hour mark approaching, Martinez was at full stretch to tip Grealish’s bouncing volley over.
The ill-feeling continued. A coming-together inside our half resulted in cards shown to James Tarkowski and Morgan Rogers, taking the number of players booked up to five with just 34 minutes played.
Chelsea chances come
Our first corner of the game, with half-time approaching, almost yielded a spectacular opening goal. Henderson’s deep corner picked out Caicedo running round the back, and he couldn’t have met his volley any sweeter, displaying exemplary technique. Unfortunately, it rattled the crossbar rather than nestling in the net as the strike deserved.
Before the half-time whistle brought an end to a hard-fought 45 minutes of football, Pickford made one more save, tipping Neto’s long-range shot over. From the flurry of Blues corners that followed, Lacroix saw his goalbound header hacked off the line by Harrison Armstrong.
Neto breaks through
We may not have scored early in the first half, but we did in the second! A cute backheel from Rogers released the bombarding Hato, who strode beyond Ainsley Maitland-Niles. His centre missed Palmer but reached Neto, unmarked. He set himself and swept his finish under the outstretched arm of Pickford.
Just 43 seconds had elapsed since the restart. We have now scored three goals in the opening minute of a half in the Premier League this season, already our joint-most in a single campaign, alongside 2011/12.
Rogers had a shot well blocked by Rohl as we sought a quick second, and an impudent long-range chip from Palmer had Pickford worried but drifted over his crossbar.
Midway through the second half, Martinez bravely cleared an inswinging free-kick and collided with Jarrad Branthwaite and Thierno Barry in the process. After lengthy treatment totalling ten minutes, our keeper was replaced by Penders, making his Premier League debut.
The Belgian’s first contribution of note was a superb punch from just inside his box to clear a cross. We continued to defend resolutely, and almost hit the Toffees on the break with a second. Palmer had options left and right and opted to play in Joao Pedro, but Pickford stood tall to save.
Game, set and match
However, we did make the game safe just before the clock ticked over to 90. Henderson’s attempt at replicating his free-kick heroics from last weekend fell short, with the wall blocking his shot, but the loose ball fell kindly to Neto. He intelligently delayed shooting until the space was there to do so, and then rolled his strike into the opposite corner from where he had tucked away his first.
The Chelsea supporters had been enjoying themselves throughout the second half in the Merseyside sunshine, and now they had extra cause for celebration as we negotiated 11 added minutes to earn a fine away victory.
What it means...
The Blues rise above Everton in the formative table ahead of the rest of this weekend's Premier League action.
What’s next...
A big London derby at the Bridge is up next, with Tottenham visiting next Saturday 24 October for a 5.30pm kick-off.
The teams
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Martinez (Penders 70); Acheampong, Lacroix, Colwill, Hato (Palestra 90+2); Caicedo (c) (Lavia 90+2), Henderson; Neto (Quenda 90+12), Palmer, Rogers; Joao Pedro (Welbeck 90+2)
Unused subs: Fofana, Barco, Nicoll-Jazuli, Estevao, Quenda
Scorer: Neto 46, 90
Booked: Neto 27, Acheampong 32, Rogers 34, Palmer 65
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Maitland-Niles (George 55), Tarkowski (c), Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Garner, Armstrong (Norgaard 85); Rohl, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish (Johnson 85); Barry Unused subs: Travers, O'Brien, Graham, Alcaraz, Hackney, Dibling
Booked: Armstrong 23, Tarkowski 34, Norgaard 89
Referee Paul Tierney
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