Chelsea victorious as Spaniards shine
Chelsea picked up their first home win of the season with a 2–0 win over Ronald Koeman’s Everton. Goals from Fabregas and Morata clinched the points as their five Spaniards put in stellar performances.
Lineups:

Chelsea made one change, bringing in Pedro for Christensen as they switched back to their 3–4–3 formation compared to the 3–5–1–1 they used in their 2–1 victory at Tottenham.

Everton made wholesale changes after their midweek Europa League qualifier, bringing in Holgate, Jagielka, Davies, Gueye and Sandro.
Play-by-Play:
With both teams playing identical formations, the game was either going to be a tightly run affair or a blowout. It was the latter that ended up happening as Chelsea dominated the first half and didn’t let their advantage slip.
Pickford was Everton’s saving grace for the first 30 minutes as Chelsea had 5 shots to Everton’s 0 with the Englishman making 3 important saves. The Merseyside team didn’t register their first shot until the 33rd minute and that didn’t even require a save.
Chelsea broke through in the 27th minute after some quick, snappy passing. A freekick was taken quickly to Willian on the right which the Brazilian pulled back to Fabregas just outside the box. After playing a quick one-two with Morata, the ex-Barca midfielder ghosted into the box and nestled an outside of the boot shot into the bottom corner to Pickford’s right.

Chelsea’s dominance was clear at this point and Everton looked helpless and unprepared to deal with Chelsea’s pressing and quick passing. Chelsea were aware of their dominance and took the foot off the gas a bit, generating just one shot in between the two goals.
Morata’s goal effectively put the game to bed before halftime. Some trademark Chelsea pressure saw half a dozen Blue players around Everton’s box. Willian was fouled on the edge of the area but the referee played advantage which saw Azpilicueta put in a perfectly placed cross for Morata to head home after timing his run perfectly to beat the offside trap.
HALFTIME
The first half was entirely one-sided with Chelsea having 7 shots to Everton’s 1 and over 55% possession.
Second Half
Ronald Koeman knew something had to change and brought on Muhammed Besic for Tom Davies. The change was a good one as the second half was far more even although this could have also been because Chelsea were not trying as hard.
The change saw Sigurdsson drop deeper and Rooney play like a second striker as Everton switched from focusing on wingbacks to focusing on creating through the center. This creative shift saw Chelsea’s wingbacks being less effective as they couldn’t press the Everton defense high up the field and had to drop slightly deeper to cover up for Everton’s 3 central midfielders.
Everton generated their best (and only real) chance of the game just five minutes into the half. Sigurdsson won the ball back near the halfline and played a ball into space for Rooney. Rooney saw Sandro’s run into the box and played a through ball to just inside the 18-yard box but the Spaniard scuffed his left-footed shot and it was tamely blocked by Luiz and trickled out for a corner.

However, with no pure wingers or wide players, Everton had a very one-dimensional strategy of just relying on Rooney and Sigurdsson to get it to Sandro by any means necessary which was very easy to defend against. Bringing on Dominic Calvert-Lewin for Sandro in the 62nd minute changed that as the youngster’s raw energy and speed kept Chelsea on their toes. Everton generated 5 shots in the 30 minutes he was on the field compared to 2 in the previous 60.
Everton had 2 great late chances to gain something from the match. A cross from Sigurdsson in the 85th minute found Williams in the box but his glancing header just missed the far post. Two minutes later, a long ball from the Everton defense found Rooney who managed to wrestle his way into the box before leaving the ball for Lennon. Lennon pulled the ball back for Gueye who unleased a thunderbolt from outside the box but Courtouis made a great diving save to tip the ball over.
FULLTIME: Chelsea 2:0 Everton
Decisive Theme of the game:
Everton’s lack of width and Chelsea’s pressing
Everton were one of the many teams that experimented with three defenders last season after seeing Chelsea’s success with the formation. However, with their brand new look to the team this season, today’s side was poorly chosen and had obvious gaping shortcomings. While Rooney and Sigurdsson are definitely starting quality, their placement as the supporting attackers was an awful combination.
In the 3–4–3 formation both Everton and Chelsea started with, the forward 3 consist of a central striker and a deeper forward on either side offering support. The latter positions provide a great deal of creative freedom but requires the players to assist the wing backs on the flanks in defense and transitions.

Neither Rooney nor Sigurdsson are blessed with great speed, the same goes for Baines as the left wing back. As a result, they couldn’t exploit the wide areas in the final third the way traditional wingers to, like Pedro and Willian did for Chelsea.
In the first half especially, Everton’s main mode of attack was lofted through balls down the flanks hoping to find the run of Sigurdsson or Rooney. But neither could outpace the likes of Moses, Alonso, Azpilicueta and Rudiger so all these lofted balls were just handing possession back to Chelsea.
In Pedro and Willian, Chelsea had two traditional wingers playing as supporting attackers. They were comfortable and adept at playing out wide and falling back to help the wing backs defensively. Most importantly, they pressed Everton’s backline relentlessly and prevented any kind of build-up making them resort to long balls down the flanks.

Since Everton were playing with just three defenders, Morata, Pedro and Willian could effectively close down the entire backline through individual man-marking. With Kante, Moses and Alonso offering additional pressure, Everton were on the backfoot throughout the first half and could not generate any attacking momentum as the entire team were forced to drop deep to defend.
On the other side of the pitch, Sandro, Rooney and Sigurdsson did not offer anywhere near the same offensive pressing which gave Chelsea time to build from the back and pick their spots leading to their possession and shot advantage.
Bringing on Besic for Davies at halftime changed things as he’s a more defensively minded midfielder and his closing down of the Chelsea midfield hampered their playmaking. The change of formation saw Sigurdsson drop into central midfield, the wingbacks playing more defensively and Rooney playing directly behind Sando.
This change invited Chelsea’s wide players to push up while Everton started playing through the middle where they had an extra midfielder. Kante’s tendency to charge at the Everton defense was also exploited as it left Chelsea with just one player in the middle compared to Everton’s 5 as long as they could get it out of defense. In response, Alonso and Moses had to drop a little deeper to provide defensive coverage which created a gap between Chelsea’s midfield and attack.
Bringing on Calvert-Lewin and Lennon offered a variety that Everton hadn’t seen all game. Their speed and the latter’s role as a winger offered a new avenue of attack. Sandro played mainly as a target man and didn’t offer much in terms of closing down or build-up while Calvert-Lewin’s speed and dribbling saw him taking defenders on. Lennon stretched the Chelsea backline which gave more space for Sigurdsson on the opposite flank to whip in his lethal crosses toward the end of the game.
Player of the Game:
Cesc Fabregas

The midfielder was the creative force that drove Chelsea with his vision and movement. He picked up 91 passes at an 84% success rate, including 3 key passes. In addition to having the most passes, the most forward passes and the most chipped passes in the game, he also had the most touches but only lost possession once. The Spaniard’s combination with Kante was lethal as the Frenchman’s tireless running allowed Fabregas to focus on creating chances.

