Everton’s unbeaten run halted by humbling defeat to Chelsea

Home games against Chelsea have been a source of pride, exhilaration and points for Everton in recent seasons but there would be no repeat today of the heroics that saw the Blues beat the West Londoners convincingly at Bramley-Moore Dock in March or the adrenaline-fuelled triumph that helped Frank Lampard’s side avoid relegation in 2022.

On that latter occasion, Jordan Pickford produced one of the most incredible saves of his career as part of an outstanding display but England’s No 1 had an afternoon to forget on this occasion, one where Everton were found depressingly wanting once the initial fire in their bellies had been quelled.

This was a humbling contest in many ways that illuminated so many of the shortcomings not only of the personnel at David Moyes disposal but also the manager’s own perplexing team selection and substitution policies and the paucity of the Toffees’ build-up play.

It was in stark and painful contrast to Chelsea who were comfortable on the ball and, at times, slick and decisive going forward with their galaxy of attacking stars. It would take another poor moment from Pickford going down to his left for their first goal and the failure by any Everton defender to react quickly to the loose ball for their second to help them seal the points but, on balance, an away win felt inevitable all the way through an injury-disrupted second half in which the hosts largely failed to show up.

With Chelsea under Xabi Alonso renowned for their goalscoring prowess, it was suitably on-brand of Moyes to eschew three of his natural wingers and deploy Merlin Röhl wide on the right flank in front of Ainsley Maitland-Niles who kept his place at right-back despite his errors at Hull City last Sunday.

Jack Grealish started on the other flank once more while Vitalii Mykolenko made a welcome return at left-back and for much of the first half, Everton gave as good as they got, compensating for their comparative lack of overall quality with plenty of endeavour and aggression.

It would be 15 minutes before either side managed to work either goalkeeper when Jordan Pickford made a routine stop to gather Cole Palmer’s 25-yard effort before Pedro Neto got around the back for the first time but Jordan Henderson’s shot was blocked behind on its way to goal.

Everton had wasted two set-piece opportunities by this point but persistence from Röhl in attack ended with him firing straight at Emiliano Martinez in the 26th minute.

But it was Thierno Barry who would have the hosts’ best chance of the game a minute later when a poor James Garner corner ended at the feet of Grealish but when he swung in an inviting cross, Barry could only head into Martinez’s arms from a central position.

Moyes’s men were enjoying what would be their best spell of the afternoon and Martinez had to be alert to palm Grealish’s bouncing volley over his crossbar. Then, a terrific turn inside Josh Acheampong by Mykolenko saw him slide it square for Barry with his back to goal but while the Frenchman was able to muscle his way to getting a shot off, it lacked the power to beat the keeper.

At the other end, Moises Caicedo thundered a volley off the crossbar after being picked out by Henderson’s corner kick, Neto forced Pickford to tip a stinging long-rage strike over while Harrison Armstrong had to clear Maxence Lacroix’s glancing header off his line from the resulting corner in first-half stoppage time.

Chelsea have made a habit this season of getting off to fast goalscoring starts to matches but, on this occasion, it was their quickness off the mark at the start of the second half that broke the match open in their favour and broke Everton’s resistance.

This time it was Jorrel Hato who was allowed to power untracked by Röhl around the back ahead of Maitland-Niles on the end of Morgan Rogers' backheel down the line. Hato's deflected cut-back arrived at the feet of Neto who swept it towards the bottom corner where Pickford waved a half-hearted glove at the ball but mostly missed it and it was 1-0 before a minute had elapsed following the restart. It was the third time Everton have conceded within three minutes of the start of the second half this season.

Tyrique George was readied to come on almost immediately but it would be more than eight minutes before he took the field in place of Maitland-Niles after a lengthy debrief in the dugout.

However, neither the winger’s introduction nor his switch to the left that sent Grealish to the right had any real impact and it was the visitors who established a stranglehold on the game.

Garner ushered Neto to the byline in the 56th minute but Röhl made a vital stop to block Rogers' shot from the cut-back before Palmer flashed an ambitious snapshot over from distance.

Barry had a half-chance at one end when Mykolenko swung in a cross from the left but he couldn’t fight his way through to get enough purchase with his header while Neto bent an effort a yard wide at the other.

The match was then held up for more than 10 minutes following Branthwaite and Martinez’s collision in the box that left both players prone on the turf. The big Everton defender was able to his feet after a couple of minutes and was able to continue but the Chelsea goalkeeper eventually had to be carried off the field and taken to hospital.

When play resumed there were still 25 minutes to go but the home side never looked likely to claw their way back to parity. Instead, it was Moyes’s decision to throw on a visibly unfit Christian Nørgaard instead of Hayden Hackney that led to the Londoners sealing the win at the end of the regulation 90.

The lead-footed Dane was painfully slow to react to a poor lay-off by George in midfield that left Chelsea with a three-on-two break where Joao Pedro was denied by Pickford’s excellent blocking save.

But when Nørgaard was booked for holding Palmer outside the box and Henderson’s free-kick was charged down by the wall, no one in Blue reacted quickly enough and Neto guided a simple finish to Pickford’s right and in.

Good work by Dewsbury-Hall four minutes later almost paid dividends as substitute Brennan Johnson came flying in to meet his shot-cum-cross but the ball missed the latter’s out-stretched boot by inches and skidded behind for a goal kick.

Had that gone in it might have sparked a grandstand finish but it was not to be on a hugely disappointing afternoon that saw Everton’s unbeaten run come to an unceremonious end. In the process they became the first team not to score against Alonso’s porous defence and it makes those failures to win at Bournemouth, Tottenham and, in particular, Hull, feel all the most costly.