Everton have taken advantage of Chelsea’s weak defence at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday night, beating Liam Rosenior’s team 3-0. This loss makes the west London club’s problems even worse. Beto scored two goals, his second-ever Premier League brace, and Iliman Ndiaye scored a stunning third to give Chelsea their fourth straight loss in all competitions.
The Blues went to Merseyside hoping to bounce back from a terrible 8-2 loss to PSG in the Champions League last 16 and a 1-0 loss at home to Newcastle. Instead, Rosenior’s men played terrible defence again, and goalkeeper Robert Sánchez was partly to blame for two of the three goals they gave up.
Rosenior had told his players to show character before the game because this was a tough time of year:
“We need to be resilient. We need to make sure we go to Everton with an organisation, with a freshness and intensity in our team, because we want to be in the Champions League next season.”
But that strength wasn’t there on the pitch. In the 33rd minute, James Garner made a great through ball that split the Chelsea centre-backs. Beto ran through and calmly chipped the ball over Sánchez with his right foot. From Chelsea’s point of view, the second goal was probably worse because Idrissa Gueye found Beto in the box, and his shot painfully slipped through Sánchez’s legs and rolled over the goal line.
In the 76th minute, Ndiaye finished off the rout by cutting inside and firing an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the far-side netting. Chelsea have not kept a clean sheet in their last 14 Premier League games, a streak dating back several months. Their streak without a goal has now lasted more than 300 minutes across all competitions. Their last goal came in the first-leg loss to PSG.
The win puts David Moyes’ team one step closer to a spot in the Europa League. James Garner is having a great season as one of the league’s most productive English midfielders. Chelsea will play Port Vale in the FA Cup quarter-finals at home on 4 April. Then, on 12 April, they will play Manchester City in the Premier League. Rosenior really needs the international break to fix a team that looks disorganised and lacking in confidence at the back.