Chelsea dispatched Everton on Sunday afternoon with exceptional ease. The Blues can now head into the international break free of their supposed crisis.
After Chelsea’s opening Premier League game, you would be forgiven for thinking that the world was caving in. However, a gritty victory over Tottenham followed by a comfortable 2-0 win against Everton prove that the defending champions are far from a crisis situation.
The West Londoners welcomed Cesc Fabregas back into the starting eleven after his red card in the Burnley game. David Luiz dropped back into centre-half as Andreas Christensen was asked to make way. Pedro came in while Tiemoue Bakayoko sat out due to Antonio Conte reverting back to the 3-4-3.
The Blues dominated the game from the off and, frankly, Everton will be very disappointed in their showing. They never seemed to be in the contest.
Chelsea took the lead fairly early on as Alvaro Morata linked up with the returning Fabregas for the game’s opening goal. It was a neat finish from the Spaniard as he guided the ball across the goalkeeper and into the far side of the net.
As the first half came to an end, Morata augmented his impressive first-half display by converting a fantastic cross. After missing a sitter of a header against Tottenham last week, Morata clinically diverted Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross past Jordan Pickford. Chelsea’s Spanish contingent evidently have some great chemistry.
Everton never threatened Thibaut Courtois, with the Belgian’s one important save coming late in the second period. Given all their possession, Chelsea may be slightly frustrated that they couldn’t inflate their goal difference.
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For all their talent, Ronald Koeman’s men were poor. Whether it be due to their midweek escapades or just a terrible game plan, Everton resembled more a pub team than top six contenders. They have much work to do before the Premier League resumes in two weeks’ time.
Chelsea, meanwhile, can head into the break in fantastic spirit. The club faced a barrage in the week following the Burnley loss. The tabloids spread rumours of discontent, both in the dressing room and at board level. Antonio Conte was supposedly on his way out of Stamford Bridge!
However, their last two performances prove that all this talk of a crisis was premature. The Blues crumbled in the season following their last Premier League success, but they will not repeat that in this campaign.
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Chelsea may have stumbled out of the starting blocks, but Conte evidently has built something resilient in West London. People may claim that this season will be a two-horse, Manchester-based race, but write off the Blues at your peril.