Everton 2-0 Chelsea - Everton claim crucial win over Chelsea to pile pressure on Mauricio Pochettino
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Updated 10/12/2023 at 16:40 GMT
Things went from bad to worse for Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea as they came out on the wrong end of their Premier League encounter with Everton at Goodison Road on Sunday afternoon. Abdoulaye Doucoure and Lewis Dobbin netted the goals for the hosts in the second half, and the visiting side were unable to come up with a suitable response to even grab a point from the clash in Merseyside.
Everton's Abdoulaye Doucoure celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Dwight McNeil during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Chelsea FC at Goodison Park
Image credit: Getty Images
Goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure and Lewis Dobbin – his first for Everton, in added time – gave Sean Dyche’s men their third win in a row. Despite their 10-point deduction, they now sit four points off the relegation zone, while Chelsea, who lost for the third away game in a row, sit 12th, with the pressure on Mauricio Pochettino mounting.
Neither side looked likely scorers in a dull first half, Everton lacking firepower and Chelsea coherence; Jordan Pickford’s from Cole Palmer’s long-range curler was as close as either side came.
After the break, though, Everton found just a little quality to elevate their industry and intensity, taking the lead on 54 minutes when Doucoure finished smartly after good work from Dwight McNeill.
In response, Chelsea created little, Pochettino shuffling through his well-appointed bench to little avail – Cole Palmer aside, his attackers looked devoid of coherence and inspiration. So it was little surprise when, in added time, Dobbin marched onto a poor punch through and turned it into the moment of his life.
So Everton move on – and who could back any of the bottom three to catch them, even at this early stage? – while Pochettino and his players need to have a little think.
Talking point - Pochettino needs to make decisions and stick to them
In the entire history of football, no squad has had as much spent on, for as little return, as this iteration of Chelsea. Pochettino’s men have, at times, looked an unspeakably awful outfit, slow, boring and devoid of almost everything that could be hoped for in a football team.
Though it’s unlikely Pochettino is in imminent danger of the sack, the nature of the club’s spending means he cannot be certain of that, and in any event, for this season to be of any use, he needs to move things on – and with almost half of it gone, he has done no such thing.
Of course, it’s difficult to inherit a squad so haphazardly built – Pochettino’s best work has come without a big budget – but it should, by this point, be possible to see what kind of team he’s hoping to have in the end, and it is not.
Perhaps, then, it might make sense for Pochettino to pick at XI and, give or take, stick to it - the only way players can build confidence is by playing, just as it the only way they can build relationships. So, though it must be tempting to cycle through the options after every bad performance and defeat, he needs to decide which players he thinks will be playing for him in two years’ time, then allow them to settle.
Though it’s unlikely Pochettino is in imminent danger of the sack, the nature of the club’s spending means he cannot be certain of that, and in any event, for this season to be of any use, he needs to move things on – and with almost half of it gone, he has done no such thing.
Of course, it’s difficult to inherit a squad so haphazardly built – Pochettino’s best work has come without a big budget – but it should, by this point, be possible to see what kind of team he’s hoping to have in the end, and it is not.
Perhaps, then, it might make sense for Pochettino to pick at XI and, give or take, stick to it - the only way players can build confidence is by playing, just as it the only way they can build relationships. So, though it must be tempting to cycle through the options after every bad performance and defeat, he needs to decide which players he thinks will be playing for him in two years’ time, then allow them to settle.
Player of the match - Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton)
The outstanding member of an excellent back four, he won so many huge tackles, made some big blocks, and also contributed in attack.
Player ratings
Everton: Pickford 7, Young 5, Tarkowski 6, Branthwaite 7, Mykolenko 8, Harrison 7, Gueye 6, Garner 7, McNeill 7, Doucoure 7, Calvert-Lewin 6. Subs: Patterson 7, Onana 7, Beto 6, Dobbin 7.
Chelsea: Sanchez 6, James 6, Disasi 6, Badiashile 6, Cucurella 6, Caicedo 5, Fernandez 5, Palmer 7, Gallagher 5, Mudryk 6, Broja 5. Subs: Colwill 6, Sterling 6, Jackson 6, Petrovic 6, Maatsen 6.
Key stat
Key moments
14’ - SAVED!
Gallagher finds Palmer, moving in off the right, and from just outside the box and lets rip a curler that's screeching towards the far side-netting, until Pickford plunges after it and shovels away. He made that look very difficult.
Gallagher finds Palmer, moving in off the right, and from just outside the box and lets rip a curler that's screeching towards the far side-netting, until Pickford plunges after it and shovels away. He made that look very difficult.
25’ - WHAT AN EFFORT JACK HARRISON!
A cross in from the left forces Harrison, moving away from it, to force his body into a left-footed scissors-kick near-thing that evokes Kevin Mirallas, the ball flying just wide of the near post.
A cross in from the left forces Harrison, moving away from it, to force his body into a left-footed scissors-kick near-thing that evokes Kevin Mirallas, the ball flying just wide of the near post.
50’ - BETTER!
Calvert-Lewin pulls wide and Everton work the ball infield, to the edge, and McNeill drags back superbly, then he spanks a low shot ... that Sanchez plunges to shove behind!
Calvert-Lewin pulls wide and Everton work the ball infield, to the edge, and McNeill drags back superbly, then he spanks a low shot ... that Sanchez plunges to shove behind!
54’ - GOAL! EVERTON 1-0 CHELSEA (DOUCOURE) Goodison explodes! McNeill escapes down the left, stepping across Gallagher to hold him off, then coaxes a lovely pass into the middle for the sliding Calvert-Lewin ... who's denied by a diving Sanchez! But the ball breaks to Doucoure, who introduces laces to leather, drilling into the far bottom corner.
60’ - PALMER IS BEHIND THE BALL
And, given the relative close-range he's at, just puts his foot through it; the wall duly disintegrates, but the effort is straight at Pickford.
And, given the relative close-range he's at, just puts his foot through it; the wall duly disintegrates, but the effort is straight at Pickford.
90+2’ - GOAL! EVERTON 2-0 CHELSEA (DOBBIN) What a moment! Garner's corner is decent and Petkovic comes to punch, inadvertently teeing up Dobbin, who arrives onto the ball on the edge, tipping toes down and punishing a glorious low finish into the net for his first Everton goal! Game over, and what a pile-on the players enjoy; what a goon in the crowd!
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