Chelsea secured a 2-0 victory at Everton, their first meaningful Premier League win north of the Midlands since early August 2022, ending a 1,532-day wait for such a result. Pedro Neto scored twice, with goals arriving 44 seconds after the interval and again moments before added time.
Rare victory ends long drought
The win was Chelsea's first in a meaningful Premier League match north of the Midlands since August 2022, discounting victories at Burnley in seasons when the Clarets were relegation fodder. The previous such win came more than four years ago, a 1-0 victory for Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea over Frank Lampard's Everton.
In the intervening 1,532 days, Chelsea had failed on every occasion to beat Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Sunderland and Everton. This time, they came with fight and left with all three points, overtaking their hosts in the Premier League table and climbing to fourth momentarily.
Alonso's side show evolution
In their previous nine trips to Everton, Chelsea had scored just two goals, a fact manager Xabi Alonso could scarcely believe when informed by Standard Sport in his pre-match press conference at Cobham on Friday. "Really?" he asked. Two goals in a single afternoon arrived this time, as Chelsea turned the screw after half-time following a nip-and-tuck first 45 minutes in which they were probably the second-best team.
Alonso said he was "confident" his free-scoring side would put right their Everton away-day toothlessness. It is a testament to how threatening an attack they have that they did so without any of their frightening front three getting in on the act. As Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro failed to add to their goal involvements for the season, Neto stepped up with composed finishes passed beyond the reach of England No1 Jordan Pickford.
Goalkeeper injury and debut
Chelsea's own No1, Emi Martinez, was stretchered off and had to be transported to hospital after a serious accidental collision with Jarrad Branthwaite, who was able to play on. On came Mike Penders in the 75th minute, and for all of 13 minutes of added time. The Belgian, 21, became Chelsea's youngest goalkeeper in Premier League history. He punched a free-kick clear confidently, helping the Blues hold out for that most rare of things: a Premier League victory in the north.
At the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Chelsea provided the latest evidence that they are evolving under Alonso, no longer a soft touch in these sorts of games. They had been shown four yellow cards by the 34th minute, but that was more an indication of being aggressive and up for the battle than a suggestion of worrisome indiscipline.
It was a routine away win for Chelsea that has not been part of their usual routine. The celebrations at full-time were unsurprisingly avid as the Blues kept their first clean sheet in the Premier League for nine months to the day, since the first league match of the short-lived Liam Rosenior era. It was a day of righting past wrongs for Chelsea.
