Neto shines as Chelsea ends Everton's unbeaten run
Pedro Neto's second-half brace secured Chelsea a 2-0 win over Everton, whose unbeaten start to the Premier League season came to an end.
An entertaining first half did not result in any goals, but Moises Caicedo hit the woodwork, and Neto was the star in a dominant Chelsea showing after the break.
He scored within the first minute of the second half and then secured all three points in the 90th minute, profiting from some poor Everton defending.
The hosts started well, with Emiliano Martinez holding on to Merlin Rohl's drilled effort, before getting fully behind Thierno Barry's glancing header on the set-piece.
Jack Grealish's bouncing volley then needed to be tipped over the bar before Vitalii Mykolenko skilfully opened up space to tee up Barry, who could only poke at Martinez on the turn.
After a couple of flashpoints, Chelsea finished the first half on top, with Caicedo smacking a powerful strike against the crossbar while unmarked during a corner.
Maxence Lacroix got in front of his marker on another set-piece just before half-time, but his flicked header was cleared off the line by Harrison Armstrong.
Chelsea made a fast start after the break, with Morgan Rogers, who may have counted himself lucky to be still on the pitch after a crunching 50-50 tackle with James Garner while he was already on a booking, linking up well with Jorrel Hato on the left, and the deflected cross was turned home by Neto.
Rogers continued to cause problems, with his first-time effort blocked by Rohl before Palmer attempted to catch Pickford out from the edge of the box, but the ball ended up in the stands.
Martinez was stretchered off in the 75th minute with a head injury, and although Everton tried to apply late pressure to Mike Penders, it was instead caught out at the other end as Pickford made himself big to deny Joao Pedro after a Palmer-led counter-attack.
Chelsea eventually breached Everton's defence again ahead of a lengthy 11 minutes of stoppage-time. Jordan Henderson's free-kick hit the wall, but the Toffees did not clear their lines, and Neto reacted quickest to slot into the bottom-left corner.
"We are really pleased. Shame for Emi [Martinez] but we wish you all the best. This win is for him," Neto said after the game.
"We needed a clean sheet to be honest. I think we did a very good game. Emi deserved this, Mike [Penders] did as well.
"It's really important. We know it's tough to play away, even at home there are no easy games.
"We came here with personality, with good intentions to win the match and really happy with the result."

































