If we were looking for Chelsea to respond to Tuesday’s defeat, and the four-match unbeaten run, we would not have been too happy with the opening exchanges of this game. Neither side were putting a strong foot forward, though perhaps the visitors were posing a bit more danger, through the twinkling feet of Iliman Ndiaye and the anti-gravity boots of Jack Grealish.
An injury to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall sapped Everton’s growing momentum however — hamstring for KDH, who had been in great form — and Cole
Palmer took advantage to celebrate his second game back with his second goal of the season, taking a lovely pass from Malo Gusto and giving Jordan Pickford the eyes.
Alejandro Garnacho should’ve made it two-nil just seconds later, after KDH’s replacement, Carlos Alcaraz gifted him possession. But Garna missed the empty net.
Chelsea settled in for a bit of possession, but it were Everton who looked to be ending the first-half better. Grealish had a great chance to equalize while a perfect ball across the six from Gueye went unanswered, much to our relief.
And that relief turned into joy when in added-on time, Sánchez quickly started a counter through Gusto, who played wide to Pedro Neto, before running onto his cutback and slotting past Pickford, again at the near post.
Garnacho came close to our third in the opening stages of the second half, then blazed another great chance over a few minutes later, taking another quick restart from Sánchez.
Chelsea made a couple changes to deal with a growing threat of a response from Everton, and largely remained in control, limiting the opposition’s chances decently enough. But that sort of gameplan has rarely worked for us in recent times, and Grealish probably should’ve scored as the clock ticked past 70 minutes. Thankfully he put his effort from Alcaraz’s cross wide of target.
Either Enzo or JP could’ve settled the game soon after, but both whiffed on a corner scramble, before things got a bit testy and Fofana picked up a yellow card for a tactical foul.
Then things almost got far too dramatic, as Ndiaye hit the post and Chalobah made a goal-saving block on Alcaraz in the final few minutes. Thankfully, we would maintain the clean sheet, and the three points.
Carefree.
- Several changes from midweek, with Palmer, Fofana, Gusto, Garnacho all coming back in
- Just under an hour for Palmer as he continues to build match fitness, with Andrey Santos replacing him and adding more bodies into central midfield
- First win in four in the league, first win in five in all competitions
- Another clean sheet for Trev, Wes, and Bob
- Chelsea back up to fourth, for now, above Crystal Palace, who host Manchester City tomorrow
- Next up: League Cup quarter finals, on Tuesday night, away to Cardiff City, the only lower-league side left in the competition
- KTBFFH
