Ahead of Chelsea making their first trip to Hill Dickinson Stadium, we look back at a classic Everton home match against them
Steven Naismith celebrates scoring his hat-trick goal with team-mate Aaron Lennon during the match between Everton and Chelsea at Goodison Park on September 12, 2015
Steven Naismith celebrates scoring his hat-trick goal with team-mate Aaron Lennon during the match between Everton and Chelsea at Goodison Park on September 12, 2015(Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
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Everton’s Steven Naismith started the day on the bench but ended it with the match-ball after netting a perfect hat-trick of a header, left foot and right foot finish to down Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in a 3-1 victory.
Given that the Scot had previously found himself overshadowed when netting the only other treble of his Blues career on his debut - when Tony Hibbert, who made 328 competitive appearances without finding the net, struck in his own testimonial against AEK Athens - it proved a special occasion for Naismith.
Manager Roberto Martinez said: “A performance like that gives you a feeling of pride. An incredible team performance.
“Steven is a really important player for us, not just today but over the last two seasons he has been growing week by week. He showed everyone that he is ready for his moment and he did it in real style.”
Indeed, as the reigning Premier League champions were defeated, the ECHO’s Phil Kirkbride observed it was a win that was two years in the making.
He wrote: “Following the close of the transfer window Roberto Martinez was keen to stress something. He wanted to cut through the disappointment of missing out on the playmaker he had prioritised and was eager to paint a clear picture of the business Everton had done.
“The word that kept coming up was ‘continuity.’ Martinez hammered home how important it had been to keep the core of his squad together and said that was the real story of the window, not the failure to get a No.10.
“Mo Besic suffers an early hamstring injury. Today, after defeating Chelsea 3-1, you could see why the manager felt that way.
“Because this was a victory built on the foundations laid down two years ago by the Catalan and by players who have been at the heart of Martinez’s plans all along. Steven Naismith, Gareth Barry, Ross Barkley.... the list goes on and on and, of course, includes John Stones (Evertonians sang Money Can’t Buy You Stones to the tune of Can’t Buy Me Love by The Beatles after turning down Chelsea’s £37million offer for the player and rejecting the player’s transfer request).
“The players who took Everton to within touching distance of a top four finish in his first season and then went through troubled times the following term.
“Martinez had seen this coming. Well, kind of. He had felt the parallels between the build-up this season, to two years ago when he faced Chelsea for the first time as Blues boss. Martinez considered that win, his first as Everton manager when Naismith headed home the only goal of the game to get the Catalan off the mark, as ‘special.’
“The unassuming Scottish dynamo was the hero again today, this time grabbing a perfect hat-trick, to repeat the trick – so what of this one? Extra-special?
“‘Very strong’ was Martinez’s initially reaction but he knows it was much more. He will consider it a sign of the progress Everton have made in the two years since they last saw off Chelsea.
“Jose Mourinho’s side were poor by the standards they set in winning the Premier League at a canter last season but, make no mistake, they remain a high-quality side. Yet Everton bettered them. Stifled, harassed and punished them. Everton outclassed them.
“They’ve often been run out of contention, pipped at the post and cast as the valiant losers against this lot, but far from it today. Everton played with the cohesion, organisation and confidence of a team that has been together for some time, as well as the belief of one that has come through challenging periods.
“When Martinez spoke about continuity, he will have had all this in mind. The truth is it’s possible to eulogise about every single member of the Everton team.
“Today also showed the improvements on an individual level. Romelu Lukaku led the line in brutish fashion, Arouna Kone continues to win hearts and minds at Goodison while Gareth Barry, a general in midfield, showed why Martinez has such faith in him.
“The truth is that it’s possible to eulogise about every single member of the Everton team, even the cameo of Ramiro Funes Mori was promising, but when condensed, the day belonged to a trio of players. Naismith’s hat-trick off the bench was brilliantly constructed and clinically dispatched.
“A header, a left-foot strike and a right-foot finish gave it the official title of a perfect hat-trick it warranted. His knack of hurting the big boys is more like a habit now and his goals sent him clear as Everton’s leading scorer against Chelsea in the Premier League era with six.
“It was equally fitting that two of Naismith’s goals today were assisted by Ross Barkley. Chelsea’s midfield have often bullied Barkley in the past but this time was different. He had the strength to hold them off, the skill to leave them in his wake and the quality to hurt them.
“Barkley has been forced to grow up at a rapid rate in his two years under Martinez, and this felt like a man’s performance. So too, for Stones.
“Before kick-off, stood in the tunnel awaiting the Chelsea players to line up alongside, he looked pensive. He had wanted to be in the away dressing room today, but Everton refused to sell him – he would have been forgiven if the pressure and weight of the occasion had got the better of him.
“It didn’t. It inspired his best performance of the season.
“The player at the centre of the summer’s most high-profile transfer saga is not the type to show off but in front of an awe-struck Goodison, the 21-year-old showed his full repertoire. He was a joy to watch.
“But then, Everton aren’t exactly a poor spectacle of late either. Halfway through their daunting first 10 games of the season, they have to be wholly satisfied with their eight point return.
“This win took briefly took them up into third and was symbolic of a side who have rediscovered their confidence, belief and identity. One they forged in Martinez’s first season.”