71 min “Hill Dickinson Stadium it may be,” says Ian Copestake, “but to me it’s always the Bramley-Moore docks where my dad worked for decades instead of becoming a journalist. He may not have minded though as he was also a Blue!”
70 min: Chelsea substitution Estevao replaces the subdued Pedro Neto.
69 min Joao Pedro plays an angled through pass towards Garnacho in the area. He loses O’Brien with the aid of a ricochet but Garner gets back to cover. He has an outstanding game.
Moments later, Pickford is out very quickly to block Fernandez’s attempted flick. Fine goalkeeping.
Garnacho, who thought he was elbowed during the move that led to the Fernandez shot, is booked for dissent.
68 min Chelsea look low on confidence at both ends, which is natural after their recent struggles. Estevao is preparing to come on.
64 min “Does the Premier League impose a regulation size on goalkeepers’ gloves,” wonders Gary Byrne, “because Pickford’s remind me of my oul’ Gran’s oven mitts.”
Anything that doesn’t fit the Giant Handed Man is fine.
Idrissa Gueye did superbly to read and then intercept a Chelsea pass in his own half, surge 50 yards and slip a little pass down the side to Beto. He swept a shot on the turn, with all the strength he could muster, and it slithered through the legs of Sanchez. A goalkeeping mistake, but Everton won’t care.
GOAL! Everton 2-0 Chelsea (Beto 62)
Beto strikes again and Everton could be heading for back-to-back wins at Hill Dickinson Stadium!
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61 min Garnacho’s cross is cut out by O’Brien and ricochets to Fernandez on the edge of the area. He shapes a lovely curler towards the far corner and Pickford skips across his line to fingertip it past the post. An excellent save, though not as good as the one in the first half.
59 min It’s a fibrous contest now, with every successful Everton challenged being cheered to the rafters.
57 min: Chelsea substitution Andrey Santos replaces Romeo Lavia in midfield.
55 min Free-kick to Everton on the left wing. Garner hammers it towards the far corner, forcing Sanchez to backpedal desperately and catch the ball above his head just in front of the goalline. His momentum takes him into the post but he’s okay.
Garner may have meant that because Sanchez was a fair way off his line.
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52 min Chelsea are having a lot of the ball, as they did in the first half – but the tempo and intensity of their play is a fair bit better. With Everton good on the break, it feels like a goal is coming at one end or another.
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50 min “What it is to have such helpful neighbours!” chirps Liverpool fan Ian Copestake.
49 min McNeil’s deep corner from the right is headed down by Tarkowski and claimed just in front of Beto by Sanchez. Almost a chance.
47 min “It makes such a difference for Everton when Garner is in the midfield rather than being a fish kind of out of water at fullback and today shows that,” writes Brad Wilson. “His class and vision in midfield are critical for Everton and we Evertonians love that Tuchel has noticed as well. “
46 min Chelsea have made a half-time substitution. Alejandro Garnacho is on for Malo Gusto, which means a rejig: Caicedo to right-back, Fernandez to a deeper midfield position, Palmer to No10, Pedro Neto to right wing.
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Half time: Everton 1-0 Chelsea
Chelsea have work to do if they are to avoid a fourth straight defeat. Everton lead through a fine goal from Beto, made by the impressive James Garner. And though they deserve to be ahead, they needed Jordan Pickford to make a spectacular save from Enzo Fernandez.
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45 min Two minutes of added time.
44 min Chelsea were on top when Everton scored, but the goal has led to another change in momentum. Everton are having a good spell as half-time approaches.
41 min With and without the ball, James Garner has had an outstanding first half.
39 min By the way Chelsea have now kept only one clean sheet in their last 14 games, a 4-0 win at Hull in the FA Cup.
36 min: What a save by Pickford!
Pickford flaps unconvincingly at the resulting corner, which bounces up towards Enzo eight yards out. He smashes it towards goal and Pickford reacts brilliantly to tip it over. That was a great save – not just the reflexes but also his footwork across the line after the original flap.
36 min Chelsea almost reply straight away. Palmer finds the overlapping on the right side of the area; his cross hits an Everton player, possibly Garner, and flies wide of goal.
Garner received a simple square ball from Dewsbury-Hall on the halfway line, moved forward and threaded a fabulous pass between the two centre-halves. Beto timed his run perfectly behind Fofana and teased a deft first-time finish over the outrushing Sanchez from 15 yards.
There was very little room to work with, maybe a couple of yards between Beto and Sanchez by the time he made contact with the ball, so it needed a really delicate finish. Beto produced it.
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GOAL! Everton 1-0 Chelsea (Beto 33)
Beto gives Everton the lead with a goal of real class!
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30 min Fernandez’s corner leads to a big old scramble in the Everton area. Both Caicedo, Cucurella and Neto all have shots blocked, the last a terrific piece of defending from Tarkowski, before Joao Pedro lofts a curling shot that is caught by the backpedalling Pickford.
29 min Tarkowski stoops to head behind for a corner. Chelsea have been the better team in the last few minutes.
27 min A gorgeous flick round the corner from Palmer releases Joao Pedro in the inside-right channel. He runs 30 yards into the area, cuts back onto his left foot and hits a shot that is well blocked by Tarkowski.
26 min I trust we’ve all seen the first three episodes of Last One Laughing UK? If not, give your musculus zygomaticus major a treat asap; it’s joyously funny.
23 min Chelsea are starting to wake up as an attacking force. Everton may regret not scoring in the first quarter. Or they may not; it literally depends on what happens in the next 67 minutes plus added time.
21 min Palmer wants but doesn’t get a free-kick after a challenge from Gueye just outside the area. I think Gueye got a foot between the ball and Palmer, who then kicked Gueye in what was supposed to be the act of shooting. Either way, it wasn’t given.
20 min “Coincidentally, Chelsea spent £47.5m on Raheem Sterling,” says Andrew Goudie. “£10.75m for eight trophies is a much better return. When are we going to hear about Manchester City?”
I’m not sure that’s the point Barney was making. As for City, I can exclusively reveal I have absolutely no idea.
18 min When Tarkowski heads down dangerously, Fofana nips in front of Beto to boot the ball clear. Chelsea are having more of the ball but so far Everton are the only team who have threatened.
17 min It was so nice to see James Garner in the England squad – mainly because he deserves it, but also because players like Garner rarely get called up. Thomas Tuchel has a rare ability to ignore names and profiles.
14 min: Chance for Everton A half-arsed pass from Hato towards Cucurella is intercepted by McNeil. He slides it down the line to Beto, whose cutback finds Garner in space on the edge of the area. He takes a touch and drills a left-foot shot back across goal that is kicked clear by Gusto in the six-yard box. Sanchez might have saved the shot anyway, but I wouldn’t put the farm on it.
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13 min Everton win the ball in the final third once again, this time Ndiaye intercepting a loose pass from Caicedo. Nothing comes of it but Chelsea have made a very sloppy start.
10 min Sanchez farts around on the ball for no particular reason. Beto is onto him in a flash and the under-pressure Sanchez hacks desperately at fresh air. Beto is about to walk the loose ball into an empty net when Sanchez, by now lying on his back, sticks out his left foot to poke the ball away. It was a brilliant recovery from Sanchez, even if it was a mess of his own making.
7 min “I revisited some old Irish albums around St. Patrick’s Day, including several by The Pogues,” writes Peter Oh. “It occurred to me that this fixture is the ‘Blue Heaven’ of the Premier League.
“With apologies to the late songwriters Darryl Hunt and Phil Chevron, ‘In my blue heaven, the bells of Hill go ding-a-ling-a-ling!’.”
6 min After a patient Chelsea move, Caicedo throttles a long-range shot well wide.
5 min Fofana’s straight pass into Lavia is read superbly by Garner, who nicks the ball and finds Dewsbury-Hall. He moves into the area but then hesitates for a split-second, unsure whether to shoot or try to give the ball back to Garner. That hesitation gives Caicedo just enough time to get back and make a vital tackle.
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3 min A punchy, positive start from Everton, who are giving Chelsea no time on the ball.
1 min Peep peep! Chelsea, wearing their white change strip, kick off from left to right as we watch.
The Chelsea huddle. Do we have to? Urgh, okay. They did it, in the centre circle but not around the centre spot. No referees were compromised in the forming of said huddle.
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It’s almost time for the kick off. Y’all ready for this?
Everton have a fine recent home record against Chelsea, albeit at Goodison Park rather than Hill Dickinson Stadium. They’ve won five of the last seven, including a stirring 3-1 victory under Duncan Ferguson in 2019.
The Premier League table at the start of play
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 31 | 39 | 70 |
| 2 | Man City | 30 | 32 | 61 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 31 | 13 | 55 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 30 | 3 | 51 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 31 | 8 | 49 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 30 | 18 | 48 |
| 7 | Brentford | 30 | 4 | 45 |
| 8 | Fulham | 31 | -1 | 44 |
| 9 | Brighton | 31 | 4 | 43 |
| 10 | Everton | 30 | -1 | 43 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 30 | 0 | 42 |
| 12 | AFC Bournemouth | 31 | -2 | 42 |
| 13 | Sunderland | 30 | -5 | 40 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 30 | -2 | 39 |
| 15 | Leeds | 30 | -11 | 32 |
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 30 | -7 | 30 |
| 17 | Nottm Forest | 30 | -15 | 29 |
| 18 | West Ham | 30 | -19 | 29 |
| 19 | Burnley | 31 | -28 | 20 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 31 | -30 | 17 |
Chelsea admitted making previously undeclared payments totalling just over £47.5m to unregistered entities and agents between 2011 and 2018. These appear to have been intended to smooth signings, including Eden Hazard, David Luiz, and Nemanja Matic, proper era-building players other clubs also wanted.
The verdict mentions deception and concealment. It recognises these offences attach to the club and don’t walk off with its previous officers. And yet a great deal is also made of Chelsea’s willingness to self-report. This seems naive. Of course the new people reported it. They will want to eventually sell this asset. This is clearing the decks. More to the point, the new owners had a £150m malfeasance fund built into the purchase price. Anything left over from this will be handed back to Roman Abramovich after five years. Why would you not report it? It’s a free hit.
David Moyes has called on the Premier League to provide a fuller explanation of why Chelsea were not deducted points for breaking financial rules under the ownership of Roman Abramovich.
Everton were deducted 10 points in November 2023, reduced to six on appeal, plus a further two points later that season for breaches of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Nottingham Forest were deducted four points that season for a PSR breach. The Premier League had argued for a 12-point deduction for Everton over the first offence – a breach of £19.5m over a three-year period – and an eight point deduction for Forest.
The Premier League announced on Monday that Chelsea had received a record fine of £10.75m, a suspended transfer embargo and a nine-month academy transfer ban for engaging in “deception and concealment” when making illicit payments totalling £47.5m to sign players during a seven year period under Abramovich.
Team news
David Moyes makes one change to the Everton side that played well in defeat at the Emirates a week ago: Jake O’Brien replaces Tim Iroegbunam, with James Garner moving into midfield. Jarrod Branthwaite replaces Tyrique George, who is ineligible against his parent club, on the subs bench.
There are three changes for Chelsea. Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia come in for Trevor Chalobah, who is injured, Malang Sarr and Andrey Santos. It’s only Lavia’s second Premier League start this season.
Everton (4-2-3-1) Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Garner, Gueye, McNeil, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye; Beto.
Subs: Travers, Patterson, Barry, Dibling, Coleman, Branthwaite, Rohl, Iroegbunam, Armstrong.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Hato, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo; Palmer, Enzo, Pedro Neto; Joao Pedro.
Subs: Sharman-Lowe, Adarabioyo, Delap, Essugo, Santos, Sarr,
Acheampong, Estevao, Garnacho.
Referee Sam Barrott (West Yorkshire)
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Everton v Chelsea at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Chelsea urgently need to get back on a horse, any horse: they’ve taken only five points from the last five Premier League games and were eviscerated by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Everton continue to overachieve quietly – as they have all season, as David Moyes has for most of his career – and are aiming to win back-to-back Premier League games at their new stadium for the first time. They’re already in contention for European football next season; if they win tonight, they’ll be in with a shout of a Champions League place.
Kick off 5.30pm.
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