Emma Hayes tribute
At both Villa Park and Walton Hall Park Chelsea's men's and women's teams paid tribute to Emma Hayes. Each squad donned their usual training wear but with the message 'Get well soon Emma' displayed on the back of their shirts after the Chelsea women's boss stepped away from the touchline as she recovers from an emergency hysterectomy.
The Blues boss had the operation to deal with an ongoing battle with endometriosis and is now taking time to recover. Assistants Paul Green and Denis Reddy have taken charge of the Blues for the time being, but Hayes had a direct line to the dugout for the game against Everton.
Pernille Harder's brace and Niamh Charles' stoppage time goal ensured the reigning WSL champions came away 3-1 victors.
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Cesar Azpilicueta and Armando Broja's battle
While the starting XI went through their intense warm up drills at Villa Park and the goalkeepers tested each other, Chelsea's substitutes gathered in a circle to keep the ball in the air. The deft touches and control hinted at the quality a profesional footballer has as the players varied the part of the foot they used to control the ball.
The playfulness of the game only increased as it went on before Armando Broja's knock across the circle filtered between two bodies. One of those was Cesar Azpilicueta and while the ball was certainly within his reach, he quickly deployed the blame towards the young striker. Broja pleaded his case as Azpilicueta ensured he looked bemused. The keep uppies got back underway with Broja forced into a couple of flash touches and looking to challenge Azpilicueta with some challenging passes he couldn't ignore. The Spaniard was up for the task however as the duo teste each other where they could.
Captain turned coach
It was not an easy afternoon for Chelsea at Villa Park despite another win and clean sheet. Graham Potter acknowledged his side were not always in the ascendancy.
He noted following the game: "We have humility and we know sometimes the opponent can get the better of us, that is normal in football. But you can see the players running and can see players getting bodies in the way to block shots. That is an important part of the game because we’ve got the quality in the group.”
Chelsea had plenty of difficult moments in the opening half as they attemped to find a system to utilise without the services of Reece James. Raheem Stering first played as a wing-back before Ruben Loftus-Cheek took his turn ahead of Azpilicueta's half time introduction.
The Blues' captain ensured to make his presence felt before that, coaching the backline during his warm up. Azpilicueta gestured and encouraged the defence to push higher and helped Sterling with his positioning in difficult moments.
Mason Mount's Reece James tribute
James' absence was keenly felt despite Chelsea's win and with the news the Blues' wingback is out for eight weeks, he was clearly near the front of at least one his teammate's mind. James has hinted on social media that he hasn't given up hope of making the World Cup but he certainly has his work cut out and it appears Mount is certainly rooting for him.
Following his impressive free kick that put Chelsea two goals to the good, Mount celebrated his effort, raising two fingers on one hand and four on the other as a representation of 24, James' number. Following the game, the England star posted to social media with an image of his action and said: 'For you brother' and tagged James in the post.
Gareth Southgate in attendance
While many will have considered the weekend's premier game to be Liverpool vs Manchester City, the England boss was in attendance at Villa Park. It's just over a month until the World Cup and Ezri Kona, Tyrone Mings, Ashley Young, Jacob Ramsey, Danny Ings, Ollie Watkins would have been all under the watchful eye of the former Middlesbrough defender in addition to Mount, Loftus-Cheek, Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher.
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