Everton 0-2 Chelsea, Premier League: Post-match reaction, ratings

It didn’t take long for the match to settle into the expected state, with Chelsea having all the ball but Everton leaving no space to play in the final third. There was good intensity from the visiting Blues, but little real threat.

The home Blues were offering none of that either, with occasional counter-attacks and set pieces their only real hope of scoring.

The home crowd certainly did their job to create an advantage for their team, helping the referee make several friendly calls and decisions. Chelsea got caught up in the emotion of it all, and not in a good way, especially as the first half wore on, but we got through it without too many lasting problems.

Moisés Caicedo rattled the crossbar from a corner, but we went into the half scoreless.

We may have been denied our fast start in the first half, but we won’t be denied that in the second half. Jorrel Hato, released by a backheel from Morgan Rogers, made an excellent overlapping run, rounded the corner and found Pedro Neto all alone in the box with an angled ball. Neto took a touch and beat Jordan Pickford from close range to give us a 1-0 lead just seconds into the second half.

Chelsea’s confidence increased after this goal as our intentions became much more direct and focused. Our wing play was causing Everton all sorts of problems, and only a miraculous block from Merlin Röhl prevented Rogers from doubling our lead, after Neto rounded his defender, Hato-style, on the right. Cole Palmer’s cheeky first-time effort soon after also almost took Pickford off his line.

But as the game moved past the hour mark, our momentum faded and Everton began to apply their own pressure. They were once again helped by a few friendly calls, one of which resulted in a free kick, which resulted in a head injury to Emi Martínez. Our goalkeeper was stretchered off after a long stoppage and treatment, replaced by Mike Penders for over 20 minutes.

It took a few minutes for the game to really come back to life – but not before another one of our penalty cries was ignored – but Chelsea managed to keep control of the flow of the match much better than in the first half and contain the home effort.

And then, just as the clock ticked down to 90 minutes, we were able to double our lead, with Neto in the right place at the right time to roll the loose ball into the net, after the same free-kick routine that worked against Bournemouth had been blocked.

Of course, there were still 11 extra minutes left due to the previous stoppage, but the Blues were able to handle them quite comfortably, just a few moments of tremors aside. In fact, we would be able to keep a clean sheet, which is a rare feat for us!

Three points; two goals; a blank sheet! Perfect.