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Everton hosted Chelsea at the Goodison Park this Saturday in the Premier League. The home side recently sacked manager Marco Silva and were being led into this game by former Toffees' player Duncan Ferguson as their interim manager.
The match started with Everton on top as they scored in the fourth minute, thanks to a lovely header from Richarlison, who met a cross from Djibril Sidibe.
The away side never really got going in the first half as they couldn't manage the match the intensity shown by the Toffees. In the second period, Everton doubled their advantage, thanks to some sloppy Chelsea defending and great anticipation from the scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Chelsea though got one goal back instantly as Mateo Kovacic volleyed it into the back of the net. After that, it was all about Everton being able to hold on but instead, they went on and scored the third through Calvert-Lewin again, which sealed the game.
Here, we are going to take a look at the three key observations from the game.
#3 Everton players gave it their all and outplayed Chelsea
It was like the 2000s again at the Goodison Park as Everton players were rallied on by their supporters. The crowd was incredible throughout the game and for the first time this season, the Toffees' players played with some genuine passion, along with their manager.
Chelsea weren't given any time or space on the ball and until 80 minutes, the away side struggled to create a genuinely good opportunity. Defensively and offensively, even in the midfield, Everton outclassed and outplayed Chelsea.
The Everton players were winning every second ball, pressing Chelsea high and were organized. In simple terms, there was more heart in the performance from Everton than Chelsea. It was a thoroughly deserved victory and what a start for Duncan Ferguson!
#2 Chelsea were a shambles defensively
For all their attacking exploits, Chelsea have struggled defensively this season and against Everton, they were shambolic. Starting from the goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who was at cost for the third goal due to some sloppy passing as he couldn't find Kurt Zouma.
The Walcott got on the ball, beat Zouma, found Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who played in substitute Tom Davies and after the pinballing was over, Calvert-Lewin found the back of the net. Then, the second goal from Everton on the day was due to some weak defending from the Chelsea center-backs.
First of all, Zouma mistimed his clearance, while Andreas Christensen completely missed his header. Then when Zouma got the second opportunity to clear, he tried to be clever and was robbed off the ball by Calvert-Lewin, who then had an easy task to stick it into the back of the net.
Looking back at both those goals, Frank Lampard would be absolutely furious and he needs to organize his defense better. Every single one of those players in the Chelsea backline didn't have a great game.
#1 Tammy Abraham and N'Golo Kante had rare off days
Tammy Abraham has been having an incredible season thus far. He has managed to score against almost every small team Chelsea have played against but at the Goodison Park, the English international was marshaled really well.
He didn't even have a sighter. Not a single opportunity was created for him from the Chelsea attacking department and he was a player, who had one of the least touches of the ball. Chelsea do not have many goalscorers in their team and whenever Abraham struggles, Chelsea struggle and it was evident on Saturday.
Chelsea's midfield talisman N'Golo Kante had an indifferent game compared to his colleague Mateo Kovacic. Quite strangely, Kante of all people was looking behind the pace of the game as he was second to almost every second ball. His tackling and passing also let him down.
Chelsea are suffering from a slump right now as they have suffered defeats in three of their last four Premier League games and it's now up to Frank Lampard to motivate his players and get back to winning ways.
