I Fell In Love

Many will have expected a Chelsea win – though not in a nine-goal thriller. Scoring three at home and losing is rather criminal and, with 10 goals conceded already this season, it's certainly a real problem for Roberto Martinez. How he handles that with three competitions to play in and some big, big fixtures to come in September will be fascinating.

With this being the second 5:30pm Saturday kick-off at Goodison Park on the spin, we were again in the pub mighty earlier to catch a 3pm game... Manchester City vs Stoke City the match shown – and what a shock that was!! Nobody expected that result, for sure.

Many will have expected a Chelsea win – though not in a nine-goal thriller. Scoring three at home and losing is rather criminal and, with 10 goals conceded already this season, it's certainly a real problem for Roberto Martinez. How he handles that with three competitions to play in and some big, big fixtures to come in September will be fascinating. With Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin at the back, we kept nine of of our 15 Premier League clean sheets last season... so perhaps a Spanish Inquisition is required to get to the bottom of this.

With plenty of beer down our necks, we went on to a raucous Goodison Park. Everton attacking the Park End in the first half with McGeady in for the injured Pienaar the only change to the team which drew with Arsenal last weekend.. Chelsea looking pretty smart all in yellow. It looks like something of a 'Fantasy Football' team, the Chelsea line up: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic, Matic, Fabregas, Willian, Ramiers and Costa. What a team... and with players like Schurrle, Drogba, Mikel and Cech on the bench, we were in for quite a challenge.

So a difficult challenge made extra tough by conceding a goal within 40 seconds of the start... and then seemingly Mission Impossible when we found ourselves 0-2 down after only three minutes. What a disaster. The movement of Costa seemed to surprise our centre-backs so early in the game, and then a rare goal from Ivanovic made it worse. The Serb slightly offside when he scored but we got away with one last week so no complaints from me... Apart from that, I wish we'd have had the linesman on the other side of the pitch instead – he just couldn't help himself from sticking his flag in the air at every opportunity.

Having said all that, it is a good thing we had the other linesman as a blind man would have spotted Tim Howard was well outside his penalty area when he gathered a ball at the feet of Costa. A very lucky break for Everton. I shudder to think what would have happened with Robles in goal, Everton a man down, and that defence against a rampant Jose Mourinho's Chelsea with about 70 minutes to play. Never mind nine goals – it might have been 0-9 with that scenario.

Still, though we struggled, Everton eventually rallied and got into them a bit more. The crowd responded to this and urged Everton forward; on the stroke of half-time, we grabbed one back giving us a lifeline in the match. A Coleman cross was headed in nicely by Kevin Mirallas to make it 1-2. Prior to this, Distin had put the ball in the net though it was chalked off for offside. Going into the second-half despite a woeful start, it was very much game on.

I'd already headed downstairs for a half-time pint and had to see Mirallas's header on one of the screens. All the half-time chatter was about our European fixtures and people's plans and journeys. Some great trips ahead for thousands of Evertonians over the next few months...

Had we not have nabbed one back before the break, you wonder if there've been a few changes at the break. Most downstairs wanted to see Stones on to try and distribute the ball better than what the other two were managing... and maybe to defend a bit better, more to the point. However, with Mirallas scoring on the stroke of half-time, we stayed as we were.

What materialised was quite some encounter... as good a game as you'll wish to see, in fact – apart from Everton finishing the wrong side of the scoreline, of course. Though one extreme positive was the performance of Samuel Eto'o. He illuminated Goodison Park with his fantastic movement, desire for the ball, quality on it, and link-up play. He always shows for the ball and I really look forward to watching him play this season and next. A quite brilliant player and I fell in love with his ability straight away. I was so sceptical when we signed him, though I am delighted to be wrong... smart header too, by the way.

That aside, there was plenty more to get excited about on the pitch, not least five goals in a crazy 11 minutes just at the beginning of the final quarter of the game. Seamus Coleman was mighty unfortunate to divert the ball into his own net from a Hazard shot. Coleman and Costa had been barging into each other which lead to a bit of a square up between a few of the players, Costa giving Coleman stick following the own goal seemed to upset Tim Howard who went after Costa. Luckily the referee chose to only book Howard... who was lucky to still be on the pitch in any event of course.

McGeady, who did precious little else all game, pretty much straight from the restart realised space ahead of him and ran into it. Naismith had also made a clever unchecked run to the right hand side of the penalty area. McGeady found him perfectly, Naismith finished perfectly and almost immediately it was 2-3 in this crazy game which was still nowhere near finished.

With McGeady doing brilliantly for the goal, it was a bit surprising to see him substituted, though Eto'o needed to be introduced somehow. It's a shame he didn't get his chance before Chelsea grabbed their 4th goal, particularly as Matic's goal went in via a colossal deflection. Had Eto'o scored to make it 3-3, it would have brought the house down. One chance for Eto'o before Matic scored and it might well have been 3-3 at that point. He did score with his first touch after all.

Regardless, at 3-4 the pendulum swung back to Chelsea in no time at all when lazy defending eventually allowed Ramires to sneak into the box and finish well past Howard. That was 3-5 and, though Mirallas volleyed against the post following a dazzling move, you sensed the game was now up. Oh, but there was still time yet for a moment of comedy (from the neutrals' point of view at least).

If Samuel Eto'o showed just what to do with your first touch, Besic did quite the opposite. Actually I can't think of a more ridiculous first touch for a club I've ever seen by any player. Quite what he was trying to do with a crazy backheel like that, nobody knows. Distin and Jagielka had been through hell all evening and didn't need that. Mikel still had work to do mind and did well to slip the ball in to Costa who feigned a shot to put Distin out of the equation before slotting past the helpless Howard. 3-6. How ridiculous.

There was time for one more moment of class from Eto'o. With Gary Cahill seriously and unnecessarily wasting time in injury time (they were three goals ahead after all) by lying down to receive treatment from injury, Samuel Eto'o had seen enough and went over to help Cahill to his feet. He got up sharp enough (and sheepish enough) when confronted by Eto'o who then tried to drag him off the pitch behind the goal rather than let him waste time trotting off on the side of the pitch. Needless to say Cahill was fine when he was waved back on moments later but I love the class and professionalism of Samuel Eto'o. What a player we have there. Let's enjoy it this season and next.

So... a bizarre match at Goodison Park and no wins yet this campaign. It's stating the obvious but, if we sort out that defence, we'll be OK – and I'm sure we will. No reason at all to push the panic button just yet. Moreover, that scoreline might represent the kick up the backside the back line require.

Player Ratings:

Howard: I'm not sure how much he could have done about most of them goals but he really should have been sent off which would have cost us big time. 5

Baines: I think he missed Pienaar a bit going forward as he was pretty much running into a brick wall against Ivanovic all afternoon. Kept trying though. Played in some uncharacteristically poor set-pieces in the last 10 minutes. 6

Distin: It's quite sad when a player heads into the winter of his career and you see signs of weakness in their game. He seems to have lost that pace of his a little bit and at 36 you wonder how long he has at the top. It's particularly sad when it's a player who's served you well and who you admire. I hope we see an improvement in Distin's game this season. Would be a shame to see him go out on a low ebb, but if changes have to be made then Martinez has to do it. Interesting dilemma he has here. I'd give him and Jagielka a few more games to get it right yet, though with games coming thick and fast next month there'll definitely be changes at the back and chances for Stones and Alcaraz to stake their claims. 5

Jagielka: Horribly exposed on several occasions and, like Distin, must be worrying about his place in the team. Will be interesting to see what team is sent out for our next game at West Brom. 5

Coleman: Caught out a few times in defence but did do well getting forward. 6

Barry: I thought he was one of the few who stood up to the task early in the game but, as the game ebbed on, his passing got worse and he also went missing. Like most, not at his best throughout. 5

McCarthy: Also poor. Too much seemed to go past him. I don't understand why Martinez is always so reluctant to disrupt McCarthy and Barry in midfield, particularly when we are chasing games and need something more dynamic in attack. 5

McGeady: He worked hard but didn't produce any real quality... not until the 69th minute at least when he rampaged forward and slipped in Naismith for our second goal. That must have gotten his confidence up a bit... and then he was substituted. Crazy. 5

Mirallas: Seems very much a big-game player. Worked hard, scored a great header, and was unlucky not to add another. Hope he can really kick on after the international break. We'll need him at his best in our busy September period. 7

Naismith: If everybody put the same shift in as he does, we'd be having no problems at all. As ever, he was completely tireless and unselfish throughout and put in quality display. Three goals in three games already this season and forget about Player of the Month – we could well be looking at Player of the Season. I can't credit him enough for the way he's transformed himself at Everton. My Man of the Match. 8

Lukaku: Did OK but, as is often the case, I find myself feeling underwhelmed by his efforts and think he can do a lot more... and, as our £28M record signing, we really need more from him. Take Eto'o for example. He's had no pre-season, also went to Brazil and came in straight after signing and looked excellent. I hope he can learn from Eto'o as we'll really need more from Lukaku throughout the season. 6

Eto'o: I just loved watching him and am excited to see more. If you'd have told me a couple of years ago we were to sign Samuel Eto'o, I'd have laughed in your face; and when we did sign him, earlier this week, I thought we were getting a bit of a has-been. I was taken aback by his quality yesterday and hope his quality and enthusiasm can rub off on some of the others. It's great that he has retired from international football also... a good opportunity for him to settle in a bit more with our next game now a fortnight away. 8

Besic: I've never seen anything on a football pitch quite so stupid in my life as that first ridiculous back-heel. Can only be upwards from that I suppose. 3

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