Jorginho’s penalty and Ben Godfrey’s own goal have opened up four-point cushion for Chelsea in race for the top four following a 2-0 victory against Everton on Monday night English Premier League (EPL) at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea sealed fourth spot in the Premier League as Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten run as Chelsea Boss continued with a 2-0 victory over Everton. Their win comes as Kai Havertz made decisive contributions in either half, giving Chelsea an opportunity to earn a cut above their resurgent top-four rivals.
With a few changes to the starting lineup, Chelsea started in a slightly disjointed fashion, especially in attack. However, they eventually we settled in, and as expected, began to dominate and control the match through possession.
Hudson-Odoi and Alonso combined excellently on the left as the former spanned brilliantly away from Everton’s Mason Holgate and Andre Gomes in midfield before releasing Alonso away down the left. and the Alonso’s driven cross was turned towards goal by Havertz before hitting the bottom corner after a wicked deflection off Godfrey leaving Jordan Pickford with no chance of saving the ball
Chelsea winger, Hudson-Odoi and Havertz became even more influential as the first half went on, with the latter moving freely in central areas and the former switching often with Werner on the other flank. However, it was Alonso again who almost got the team a second goal, latching on to a fantastic ball over the top from Christensen. A despairing deflection from a defender and great save from Pickford kept the game at 1-0.
Meanwhile, in the second half, Everton started full of fresh intent, however, Chelsea looked to have grabbed a second goal instead, with Hudson-Odoi finding Havertz in the area to chest-control, turn, and finish. Unfortunately, the referee ruled it out for a handball on the control and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) agreed. The goal was overruled even though the ball looked to have hit Havertz on the shirt sleeve, which is precisely what ruled Werner offside just four days ago.
Werner’s goal against Liverpool last Thursday was controversially ruled offside. He delightfully chipped the rushing Liverpool Goalkeeper Alisson Becker before using his lightning-quick pace to beat Defender Ozan Kabak and poke the ball home. However, VAR called for an offside check despite replays suggesting Werner was well onside. Video officials were called upon and they surprisingly concluded that Werner was offside, much to Chelsea’s fury.
image : TImo Werner’s offside call against Liverpool in the EPL
Everton best chance to get back into the game was missed when Richarlison in the 57th minute when he shanked woefully wide after being played through on goal by Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Chelsea quickly settled back down into the game and were able to find the second goal thanks to a great through-ball from Kovacic for Havertz running through. Pickford rushed out but was only able to clean out Havertz in the area. Jorginho easily dispatched the penalty to double Chelsea’s lead.
Chelsea’s boss, Tuchel, speaking after the match, he said;
We deserved to win. It was a very difficult first half, but we controlled it completely. Second half we increased our level and had a lot of dangerous attacks. You see the quality of the players and the club. It is a pleasure to be on the sideline and work with the team. Everybody in the club is doing everything to compete at this level.
On his part, Everton Boss, Carlo Ancelotti expressed;
We have to be honest; we are not at the same level. We cannot play an open game against this kind of team. It was the plan to play the same way as we played against Liverpool, but against Liverpool we scored early.We are looking to fight for Europe. This is good for us. We will be there until the last game. We are disappointed for this defeat but no tragedy. We look to the next game.
