Havertz shines as Chelsea see off Everton

Chelsea continued their unbeaten run under Thomas Tuchel with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Everton in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Monday evening.

Thomas Tuchel shuffled his pack and made five changes to the side which beat Liverpool last Thursday as Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso and Kurt Zouma were recalled into the starting line-up.

Meanwhile, Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Hakim Ziyech and Antonio Rudiger dropped to the bench, which featured the return of Thiago Silva after a seven-game absence due to injury.

The Blues dominated proceeding but the Toffees were doing well to break up their attacks in the opening exchanges of the match.

The first real chance of the game fell to Chelsea in the 16th minute but Jorginho fired his volley just wide of the target with Jordan Pickford beaten.

Jorginho had another chance to give his side the lead a minute later but the midfielder blazed his tame volley well side of goal.

Pickford came to his sides rescue in the 22nd minute when he commanded his six-yard box to prevent Kai Havertz’s inviting ball from reaching Timo Werner.

Everton had a chance of their own three minutes later but Dominic Calvert-Lewin guided his header straight into the arms of Edouard Mendy after Lucas Digne’s trademark cross from the left.

The home side eventually took the lead after 31st minutes of play as Havertz shot deflected off of Ben Godfrey to steer the ball into his own net after Marcos Alonso’s delivery into the box.

Andreas Christensen came to Chelsea’s rescue in the 39th minute when he made a crucial tackle to intercept the ball from Richarlison, who would’ve been through on goal.

Chelsea should've doubled their lead with four minutes left to the break but Pickford made a superb save to deny Alonso, who was clean through on goal.

The visitors had a chance to level matters in stoppage time as Digne whipped a teasing ball to the back post which put  Mendy under pressure but the keeper managed to punch the ball clear.

However, Andre Gomes picked up the loose ball on the edge of the area before firing his shot towards the bottom corner but Mendy was on hand to deny Everton an equaliser as the Blues went into the break with a one goal lead.

Pickford was called into action early in the second half when he tipped Alonso’s free kick out for a corner as it was destined for the top right corner.

Chelsea thought they had doubled their lead when Havertz found the back of the net but VAR disallowed the goal as the German was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area.

Richarlison nearly brought his side on level three minutes later but the Brazilian blazed his shot just wide of the target after being played through on goal by Sigurdsson.

Chelsea had two opportunities to take go further ahead in the space of two minutes as Reece James’ effort sailed wide of goal before Callum Hudson-Odoi forced a save out of Pickford moments later.

The home side were then awarded a penalty in the 63rd minute when Havertz was brought down by Pickford inside the box. Jorginho then stepped up to send Pickford the wrong way to make it 2-0.

Werner had a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0 in the 80th minute but the German’s effort was saved at the near post by Pickford in a one-on-one situation before Kurt Zouma headed his effort straight to the keeper from the resulting corner. 

Pickford then kept his side in the game when he produced a double save in the 85th minute to deny Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante, respectively.

Chelsea pushed forward in search of a third goal in the closing stages of the game but Mount and Kante were unable to find the net with their second opportunity in quick succession as the Blues held on to secure all three points at home.