Chelsea 2-0 Everton: Alvaro Morata and Cesc Fabregas help Conte's men secure routine victory
Chelsea hoping to build on Tottenham victory as Everton look to end Stamford Bridge hoodoo.
Chelsea 2-0 Everton
- Chelsea go into international break with consecutive victories.
- Everton failed to bring the fight to the Blues as they deliver lacklustre performance.
- Cesc Fabregas gave Chelsea lead with fantastic finish before Alvaro Morata secured all three points before half-time.
- Everton rallied slightly in second half, but did not really trouble Thibaut Courtois.
Full-time: Chelsea 2-0 Everton.
First-half strikes from Alvaro Morata and Cesc Fabregas seals a comfortable win for Chelsea. Everton were lacklustre for most of the game, and only really came live in an offensive sense with less than 10 minutes to go.
Conte may wish for more signings, but his current squad are serving him well right now.
Morata and Williams are going toe-to-toe so far. The Welshman has not given the Spain international an inch so far.
Everton win a foul in the Chelsea half as Alonso handles the ball. They opt to take it short, but it comes to nothing. The ball is eventually kicked out of play after Rooney lies on the ground after feeling the full effect of a tackle from Alonso.
Everton's £45m man Gylfi Sigurdsson made a crucial impact on his full debut for his new club, scoring an absolutely marvellous goal from all of 45 yards to ensure Koeman's side reached the Europa League group stages at the expense of Hajduk Split.
Will we see more of the same from the Iceland international? Kick-off less than half an hour away.
Everton's substitutes' bench has three England Under-20 World Cup winners on it in Ademola Lookman, Jonjoe Kenny and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The latter may feel a touch of disappointment after performing so admirably against Manchester City on Monday, but Koeman is right to rest his young legs, especially when he can draft in a quality replacement in Sandro Ramirez.
Chelsea's substitutes' bench looks a tad weak for a team considered to be title contenders, but Antonio Conte says he will be happy with his squad should they fail to add any more players before next week's transfer deadline day, despite his previous calls for more signings.
"For me it is very important to continue to improve, to continue to work with my players on the pitch and to continue to improve my team. The club is trying to strengthen our squad, our team, they are working very hard to do this," Conte said.
"But you have to continue to work. If we continue to stay with these players then I'm very happy, I am very happy."
Team news in less than 10 minutes.
Ronald Koeman may see fit to ring the changes for Everton, who played a tough game against Hajduk Split in Croatia on Thursday.
Antonio Conte on the other hand cannot really shuffle his pack too much, with his squad rather threadbare at the moment. Perhaps Chelsea shouldn't have loaned all those players, eh?
Ronald Koeman would "welcome" the presence of Diego Costa at Everton as he strives to strengthen his striking options at Goodison Park and revealed that he will speak about transfers with the Toffees board after his side's clash against Chelsea on Sunday (27 August).
When pressed on transfers, Koeman said in his press conference: "I don't know, it's time to speak with the board after Sunday, I'm busy with the game [against Chelsea].
Asked if there was a possibility of signing Costa, Koeman said: "I don't know, I have always said that there's a warm welcome for every good player, he' a good player.
"We're still looking to bring a striker in, it's not about that I'm not happy with Dom's [Calvert-Lewin's] performances, but he's still young. We need more competition up front, we have tough fixtures, you need competition. The most difficult thing for young player is being consistent, but Dominic is an exception like Tom Davies and is doing really well."
Surely there's no way Costa will end up at Goodison... is there?
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