A clumsy penalty conceded by Abdoulaye Doucouré was the difference in the game as Chelsea beat Everton 1-0 on matchday one. Frank Lampard’s side lined up well and despite lacking forwards, they were able to hang on to Chelsea as the Blues struggled to start their season. Everton were hit with another blow just 18 minutes into the game as Ben Godfrey left the game on a stretcher after a long delay. Considering he had his leg immobilized, that doesn’t look good. He was eventually replaced by Mason Holgate.
From there, both teams were missing a proper number nine, but it was Everton who coped better with this as Anthony Gordon led the attack. Everton were able to create chances on the counter but the last ball was not there. Ben Chilwell fired a penalty before half-time as Doucouré put both hands on his shirt as he descended into the box. Jorginho didn’t mess around sending the penalty home to give Chelsea the lead.
The second half went the same way as the first, but Everton will be the happiest team about it. Amadou Onana was in the crowd watching as he will be in Everton midfield sooner rather than later after agreeing a deal with Lille, but for Chelsea, even with Armando Broja on the pitch, they lacked a good nine . Raheem Sterling filled the role but is better from the wing despite his high work rate in the box.
He was brilliant with Kalidou Koulibaly on his debut on Saturday, but most of the squad failed to shine with them. Nathan Patterson also created a good chance for Dele Alli when he came on but Dele was unsure what to do with the ball in the box as he missed his chance. Lots of work to do for each team in a game that ended up lasting almost 110 minutes due to various stoppages in each half.
