Latest [HT]
Everton face Chelsea away from home on Saturday, December 13. Kickoff at Stamford Bridge is scheduled at 3:00 pm.
No real surprise that Alcaraz makes way for the return of Idrissa Gana Gueye -- for just one game before he and Iliman Ndiaye take off for the AFcon tournament.
One huge surprise on the subs bench: only one keeper! Moyes is going soft.
First Half
We all know how the mustard and navy clad boys kicked the game off. But they managed to hold the ball a fair bit in the first 2 minutes before The Chavs started passing it around and won a corner off Tarkowski, headed over by Chalobah.
Ndiaye picked the ball up and ran in but his shot was blocked away for an Everton corner. Poor though, Cucurella the first man, half-cleared before Graner got forward but his effort was blocked back to Sanchez.
But Everton kept the early play upfield until a poor forward pass from O'Brien allowed the turnover. Grealish fouled Gusto. Then Palmer's forward ball went through to Pickford. Cucurella beat O'Brien in a foot race for the ball wide right but nothing came of his long throw.
Grealish went in low again, this time on James with him and Dewsbury-Hall ending in a heap. Dewsbury-Hall tried to run it off but he had sustained a hamstring injury and Charly Alcaraz replaced him after just 14 minutes. A huge blow surely.
Cucurella did not like being called for a block on Ndiaye, Pedro Neto then fouled Grealish near the left corner flag, headed over for a corner by Chalobah. Garner played this one short and Grealish worked hard to put in a cross that Tarkowski played back in at the far post but behind everyone.
Chelsea mounted their first attack after 20 minutes, Palmer played in well by Gusto, gave Pickford no chance. And suddenly it was target practise for Chelsea, Garnacho lashing a shot just over the angle. Then a horrendous ball backwards from Alcaraz, Garnacho putting it just wide thanks to Tarkowski's attention.
A dreadful 3 minutes for Everton, with Ndiaye getting kicked by Cucurella for good measure, Everton desperate to regroup after a decent opening 20 minutes.
Chelsea threatened again but Fernandez headed softly to Pickford, who came out to claim the next dangerous cross in. Cucurella stole the ball after a foul by Fernandez on Ndiaye that the referee failed to call.
Grealish made a rare forward advance, his cross put behind, the corner cleared after \Ndiaye was wrestled to the floor -- clear penalty? Not even looked at. Garner tried to rework it but Chelsea went forward, their cross in cleared by Tarkowski. Pedro Neto lashed one over from distance.
Gana was fouled and Garner swung a clever one to the far post where Tarkowski running in, headed it down too hard into the turf rather than the goal and it squirmed wide.
O'Brien made a great run down the right and picked out Ndiaye who made a complete airball mess of it. Gana tried to make amends, his low cross right across goal and surely meat and potatoes for Barry... but no, he missed it completely. Perhaps Sanchez got his fingertips to divert the cross away from him.
Another O'Brien cross was a little less convincing, and the next one just an absolute shocker that Jake spooned over the Chelsea goal. It had been almost a decent spell for Everton up to that point but nothing to show for it.
Grealish cut in from the left and dribbled brilliantly right into the 6-yard box but his chip over Sanchez was too cute and did not fool the big Chelsea keeper, when a powerful a directed shot might have beaten him.
Gusto had a shot from far out that Pickford saved easily. Chelsea came forward again, Pedro Neto skipping past Mykolenko and cutting it back perfectly for Gusto to force his shot past Pickford at the near post. 2-0... Game over at half time?
Second Half
It will take a miracle to turn this around, with no changes made at the break.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, James, Fernandez, Pedro Neto, Palmer, Garnacho, Joao Pedro.
Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Hato, Acheampong, Guiu, Estevao.
Everton XI: Pickford, O'Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Gana, Garner, Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall (15' Alcaraz), Grealish, Barry.
Subs: Travers, Campbell, Patterson, Aznou, Iroegbunam, Dibling, McNeil, Beto,
Reader Comments (20)
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ()
3 Posted 13/12/2025 at 14:22:15
4 Posted 13/12/2025 at 14:22:27
5 Posted 13/12/2025 at 14:26:54
Not being ambivalent but I applaud keeping Ndiaye for his last game as he has the skills that could be important today. At least only one keeper on the bench, but scant consolation.
7 Posted 13/12/2025 at 14:33:16
8 Posted 13/12/2025 at 14:51:59
Everton do not have the midfield to compete with Chelski and will be very surprised if we get anything from this game. Yes that's a very negative comment but the record at the bridge is abysmal and whilst we have gotten some results lately we are still lacking a lot to compete with the likes of Chelski.
It will be a backs to the wall set up by Moyes which doesn't give me any confidence despite the result at Manure.
9 Posted 13/12/2025 at 14:53:27
He's gotta share Kansas City with a pretty ugly pair of fat Gunners fans. Scary!
10 Posted 13/12/2025 at 14:56:26
11 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:00:08
12 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:03:59
13 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:05:05
14 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:06:21
15 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:29:19
16 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:48:30
Top priority in january, alongside the sack of coal we have up front
17 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:48:57
18 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:53:17
19 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:54:37
I really wanted Alcaraz to come good for us but he just does these utterly stupid things.
20 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:55:45
Missing KDH. Call out for Gana who didn’t track runner for both goals.
Hasn’t been a 2-0 on balance, they’re clinical we’re wasteful.
21 Posted 13/12/2025 at 15:57:06
And another first class display of inept refereeing missing some obvious fouls and also looking like a bit of a homer.
As we could have scored a couple ourselves the game isn't over but you wouldn't put your last on it.
22 Posted 13/12/2025 at 16:00:53
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.
How to get rid of these ads and support TW
1 Posted 13/12/2025 at 14:15:50