Chelsea escaped sharing spoils with Everton on Saturday evening as Jorginho converted from the penalty spot to give the blues an awesome start to the 2022/23 Premier League season.
Chelsea started off looking threatening in the match but Everton caught up with the Blues and subsequently dictated the pace of the game.
In the early minutes of the game, Chelsea head Coach, Thomas Tuchel was seen screaming at his players for their lackluster attitude towards the game.
The German coach kept complaining on the sidelines that his players were acting sleepy during the game – making a sleeping gesture by placing his palm on his cheek.
Even though Chelsea had 63% of the total possession against Everton’s 37% with a total of 15 shots (6 on target) as against Everton’s 6 shots (4 on target), it wasn’t still enough for the Manager as it was obviously a disappointing outing.
At the end of each session, there were a combined 18 minutes of injury time due to a terrible leg injury to Ben Godfrey in the first half and a medical issue among the audience in the second half, but Chelsea ultimately remained resilient and managed to secure all three points.
After Ben Chilwell was fouled by Abdoulaye Doucoure in the penalty area at the end of the first half, Jorginho scored from the spot to give the Blues the lead. After N’Golo Kante’s attempt was saved by Jordan Pickford, debutant Raheem Sterling followed up and had a goal disallowed for offside.
Following that, both teams were without a genuine number nine, but Everton handled the situation better as Anthony Gordon spearheaded the attack. Everton was able to generate opportunities on the break, but the decisive pass was absent.
Before the break, Ben Chilwell was awarded a penalty after Doucouré touched his shirt with both hands as he fell in the box. Jorginho didn’t waste any time in converting the penalty to give Chelsea the lead.
Everton will be delighted about the outcome because the second half played out similarly to the first. Amadou Onana was in the audience as he will soon join Everton’s midfield after they reached an agreement with Lille, but even with Armando Broja on the field, Chelsea lacked a true nine. Also, despite having a high work rate in the box, Raheem Sterling is better from the wing.
While making his debut on Saturday with Kalidou Koulibaly, he shone brightly, but the majority of the team didn’t. Dele Alli also had a nice opportunity created for him by Nathan Patterson when he came on, but Dele fluffed it because he didn’t know what to do with the ball in the area.
In a match that ended up lasting nearly 110 minutes due to multiple stoppages in each half, there is still much work to be done by each side.
Marc Cucurella, who recently signed from Brighton, was remarkable because he was able to control his position well. Indeed, Debutants Armando Broja and Marc Cucurella enjoyed their limited minutes in the game.
Great to have you out there, Chilly! 👊 pic.twitter.com/P0GkENOJYQ
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 6, 2022
