A trip to the blue half of Merseyside is rarely easy. At Goodison Park, Everton supporters would create a hostile atmosphere that could suffocate visiting sides. The same can happen at their new stadium, as the Blues found out first-hand last term.

It's why Alonso highlighted the importance of having the right mentality ahead of the game. The Chelsea manager's words were heeded. In a feisty opening 45 minutes, we stood up to the physical challenge posed by the Toffees.

Strong challenges were not shirked. Loose balls were hotly contested. It gave the Blues a platform to build on, and in the second half, after Alonso altered how Chelsea built possession, we took control.

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Neto netted just 43 seconds after the restart, beating Jordan Pickford with a well-placed finish. We muted Everton's potential response, although at a cost as Emi Martinez was stretchered off after a heavy collision with Jarrad Branthwaite.

The Blues handled the injury professionally, and in the 90th minute, Neto reacted quickest to a blocked Jordan Henderson free-kick and swept the ball home to seal our victory.

'Really hard three points playing away at this difficult stadium,' the Portugal international reflected after celebrating with the travelling Chelsea supporters. 'A word to our team-mate, who unfortunately got an injury, but we are really happy to get a win at this difficult stadium.

'They are a team that is very physical and have worked with the coach (David Moyes) for nearly two years – and he has really good ideas. They fight, they win duels and are really tough. But we came here with the same mentality and knew we had to run more than them and fight more than them.'

Scoring early in halves has become a recurring theme of the Blues season, and Neto's opener was the latest example of Alonso's side catching another team off guard.

Neto highlighted that, at the interval, the Chelsea manager and staff tweaked how the Blues would use the ball after spotting Everton pressing man-to-man in the opening period. It quickly paid off.

'We adjusted a little bit because we were seeing that they were pressing man-to-man on the goal kicks,' he explained. 'We won some duels in the first phase and got to the goal with an unbelievable play from Jorrel (Hato), then I got the ball to my feet and tried to finish. I’m happy I could do it.'

Martinez's injury was the only disappointing note of the afternoon. Alonso confirmed after the game that the Argentinian was conscious when he left the stadium and was undergoing precautionary tests at a local hospital.

The Blues goalkeeper certainly contributed to our victory with important saves in the first half. His replacement, Mike Penders, also kept Everton at bay as we recorded our first Premier League clean sheet of the campaign.

Neto dedicated the shutout, and the victory, to Martinez. ‘This win is for him; he deserves it as he did a really good job. We hope he is okay and we are really happy to get the win for him.

'It’s a deserved clean sheet, and we've been waiting for a long time. He deserves it as well. He’s a great guy and I hope we continue like this to give him more.'