uk.sports.yahoo.com

Palmer and Gusto sink lacklustre Everton to end Chelsea’s winless run

A win for Chelsea, a much-needed once after four games without, and in many ways a routine one – and yet it was also a game that highlighted the oddity of Enzo Maresca’s side. He has a squad packed with extraordinary talent, capable of passages of exceptional football, but they are also wildly inconsistent, even within individual games. They won easily, could have won more easily, and also had spells when the game threatened to slip from their grasp.

Chelsea have become extremely difficult to read. Every time it looks like everything might be coalescing into something coherent, perhaps even title-challenging, they stutter, and every time it looks like a blip might become a crisis, they embark on a run of positive form.

Related:Liverpool v Brighton, Chelsea 2-0 Everton, and more: football – live

When they drew against Arsenal late last month, despite being reduced to 10 men before half-time, it meant they had lost one in 12 in all competitions and it was possible to see them taking advantage if Arsenal faltered. Since then, they have lost to Leeds and Atalanta and been held to a draw at Bournemouth. They began the weekend fifth, eight points off the top, and are 13th in the Champions League table.

Perhaps that level of inconsistency is inevitable with a squad so young; which is where it’s worth remembering that their youth is a policy based not in economic necessity but a conscious decision to regard players as assets to be spun and sold at profit.

The loss of Moisés Caicedo, suspended for three league games after his red card against Arsenal, obviously has not helped, but he was available against Atalanta and could not maintain second-half control.

Injuries at the back have not helped, with Levi Colwill suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in August. Although Wesley Fofana is back after missing four games through concussion, Maresca is clearly reluctant to risk playing him more than once a week. The difference when he plays is stark: one defeat in 10 when Fofana has started this season, five defeats in 14 when he has not. Chelsea have not conceded more than once with him on the pitch in any game this season.

It is not that Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo or Josh Acheampong are not up to it; more that they benefit from having an experienced head alongside them. Thiago Silva, arguably, has never properly been replaced. Having come off the bench against Atalanta on Wednesday, Fofana was forced off again with an eye injury sustained in making a sliding change, but he had sufficiently recovered to take his place at the heart of the Chelsea defence alongside Chalobah.

Caicedo’s place was taken by Cole Palmer, making his first appearance at Stamford Bridge since the opening weekend of the season. It brought his first goal in almost three months as he latched on to Malo Gusto’s through-ball to put Chelsea ahead in the 21st minute. Alejandro Garnacho should have made it more comfortable for Chelsea, missing an open goal after latching on to a weak back pass in the first half and skewing a one-one-one well over in the second.

Everton had their chances, notably in a five-minute spell towards the end of the first half when James Tarkowski headed wide and Thierno Barry could not quite reach Idrissa Gueye’s cross, but they were not helped by an injury that forced off Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall after 13 minutes.

The intimation a game might be about to break out disappeared as Gusto scored Chelsea’s second, turning in a cutback from Pedro Neto. Everton had opportunities in the second half, though, Jack Grealish unable to control his finish as a cross found him unmarked at the back post, before Iliman Ndiaye rolled an effort against the upright.

It certainly was not the classic David Moyes away game against a big club – sit deep, look to absorb pressure, lose – but equally, once Chelsea had taken the lead there was little realistic prospect of Everton getting back into the game. If a chance had been taken, the mood might have changed and it might have been a different story. But that is the nature of this Chelsea side: for all their glitter, for all they are capable of challenging the very best, there is a brittleness to them. That, ultimately, will probably prevent them winning the very biggest titles.

Read full news in source page