Everton vs Chelsea a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
May 1, 2017
1,943 Views
- Chelsea took another step closer to a second Premier League title in three seasons after victory over Everton
- But the race is still not run yet after Tottenham did their bit against Arsenal a few hours later
- You could read my thoughts on the North London Derby here
- Antonio Conte’s men looked like they were celebrating as if they had won the title once the final whistle had been blown
- It was a big hurdle to clear but perhaps those celebrations were slightly premature
- Everton failed to help out Tottenham after what was somewhat of a second half capitualtion
- Ronald Koeman’s side started the brighter and smacked a post within the first couple of minutes when Calvert-Lewin was allowed to surge into the box, only to see his effort cannon off the outside of the goal
- A bit of a wake up call for Chelsea
- But in fairness that was about as good as it got for Everton yesterday afternoon
- Tottenham fans would have allowed themselves to think that perhaps the gap at the top could be cut further as the game was without a goal at half time
- Perhaps it was going to take a moment of brilliance to really open the game up as Chelsea failed to find the all important breakthrough in the first half
- And that is exactly what it took as Pedro once again scored another sensational strike from outside the box
- It was not too dissimilar to the one that he scored against Tottenham at the start of the year
- Once again it was with his back to goal initially that he was afforded enough time and space to let fly
- This time it rifled past Everton’s Stekelenburg and high into the net
- An unstoppable shot, a world class goal that put Chelsea ahead
- And once they were ahead they never really looked back
- That’s why they are top of the league because they make decent opposition look ordinary and they did exactly that to Everton in the second half
- After going ahead midway through the second half the result would be all but secured eleven minutes from time
- Gary Cahill who scored a vital goal last Tuesday against Southampton was once again able to be called upon yesterday afternoon
- This one may have been a bit more scrappy then the one against Claude Puel’s men but at the end of the day they all count, especially at this point of the season
- That strike further deflated Everton as any hopes of getting back into the game were quelled with Cahill’s finish
- It was an off day for Romelu Lukaku as Antonio Conte got a close up on his reported number 1 transfer target
- Diego Costa certainly won the battle of the strikers but if you believe the reports that Lukaku could replace Costa in the Summer then on the evidence of yesterday you would rather keep the Spanish international
- Whether Chelsea make a bid for Lukaku to return to Stamford Bridge in the Summer remains to be seen but you get the feeling that is going to be the big transfer saga of the close season
- Everton offered nothing in attack yesterday but Chelsea still had time to add to the scoresheet and wrap up an emphatic away win
- Willian who scored a brace against Tottenham at Wembley nine days ago had to make do with a place on the subs bench
- But he would be afforded some minutes late on and that was all he needed to make it 3-0 to Chelsea
- A simple tap in for the Brazilian put the icing on the cake
- And there were definitely celebrations at the end as the belief that the title really is there’s begins to grow further
- This weekend will prove to be interesting though
- Tottenham make the short trip to West Ham on Friday night, a win there means the gap to the top is just a point
- While Chelsea face Middlesbrough on Monday at The Riverside Stadium, this could be a very long weekend for Antonio Conte’s men
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