After last weekend’s win over Tottenham, Chelsea knew that they had to make it two in a row to put fears of a crisis to bed. Up against Everton, that was never expected to be easy, but they made light work of it on Sunday afternoon.
Rampaging forward right from the off, it was Cesc Fabregas who opened the scoring with a neat flick of a shot which left Jordan Pickford helpless as he tried to prevent the shot from reaching the far corner of the net.
Alvaro Morata added a second before half-time, getting on the end of Cesar Azpilicueta’s delivery into the box, and Everton never really competed from that point with Chelsea easing off the pressure as the clock ticked down.
Here are how the Blues rated in their victory…
Thibaut Courtois – 7
Barely tested by the Toffees, and when he was, he was more than up to the task. Commanded his box well and organised the defence from the back.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 8
Provided a brilliant assist with a fantastic cross right onto the head of Alvaro Morata to double Chelsea’s lead. Reliable and solid as ever at the back and organised the back three well. An improvement on his display last weekend.
David Luiz – 8
Dominant in the air, he was reliable and looked much more assured back in defence than he had in midfield last weekend against Tottenham. A sweeper role at times but one that he executed well.
Antonio Rudiger – 7
Improving with every game, this was the calmest and most comfortable that the German has looked. He was confident on the ball and looked to play out from the back without panicking, whilst not being pulled out of position as he has previously.
Victor Moses – 7
Drove down the right flank with pace. Had plenty of space to run into and looked to exploit it whenever possible, even if his end product occasionally left something to be desired.
Cesc Fabregas – 8
Finished a perfectly executed one-two move with Alvaro Morata to break the deadlock with a classy finish. More advanced and creative than usual, he was one of the side’s biggest outlets.
N’Golo Kante – 8
Looked to press high and his energy was too much for the Everton midfield. Completely dominated the midfield battle and liberated Cesc Fabregas to roam forwards. Almost single handedly handled the threat of Everton when they did break forward.
Marcos Alonso – 7
Wound up Wayne Rooney and was a thorn in the side of the whole Everton side. Supported the attack well and exploited the space left by Pedro when he cut inside. Defensively solid.
Pedro – 8
Had a number of chances early in the first half, finding himself in space in the box and then creating space for himself before shooting narrowly wide. His energy and pace caused Everton problems as they just couldn’t keep up with him.
Alvaro Morata – 8
Dominant up-front, Morata put himself about much more than against Tottenham last weekend. He provided a great assist for Cesc Fabregas with a neat and smart header into his feet, and then scored with a header himself to make it two goals and two assists from his first three Chelsea games.
Willian – 6
Looked a little nervous and rash on the ball at times, he grew into the game as it went on but did not have the same impact as his two partners on the ball. Still had energy and didn’t allow Everton a moment’s peace.
Subs
Tiemoue Bakayoko (for Pedro, 76) – 7
Had a shot from distance blocked and looked to push the side forwards with his driving runs.
Michy Batshuayi (for Morata, 78) – 6
Barely involved. Looked to press high when possible.
Andreas Christensen (for Moses, 89) – N/A
Run out for the youngster.