With yet more disappointment for Everton manager Marco Silva following the capitulation of a 2-0 lead against Newcastle United in our last match, we went into a very tricky Sunday affair against Chelsea at Goodison Park.
Given our poor form and inconsistent performance levels, plenty of fans were fearful about what the result might look like at the fulltime whistle.
FT. What a win at Goodison! 🙌 #EFCmatchday pic.twitter.com/yOP6Jydmpj
— Everton (@Everton) March 17, 2019
Surprisingly, those fears were unfounded and although the visitors more dominated the game and we can maybe consider ourselves lucky that it was level at the break, Everton’s game plan worked and we stepped up perfectly after a goalless first half, with Richarlison scoring four minutes after the restart to give us the advantage.
Chelsea had no reply and Gylfi Sigurdsson added a second with just under 20 minutes remaining (missed a penalty but scored the follow up) in the tie and with us keeping the clean sheet, we took a much needed three points from the game and fans walked away from Goodison with smiles on their faces for once.
Everyone will be hoping we can now build on this as there is plenty that can be improved upon despite the comfortable looking scoreline.
Speaking to the BBC after the referee blew his fulltime whistle, Silva said of the match.
“It would be easier for me just to speak about the second half. The first half I didn’t like it at all, we were not there from the first minute. What we did in the second half was everything we planned during the week. I didn’t like the first half and told our players at half time that they have to do everything different. And they did. They showed great attitude, character and personality second half but we have to do it from the first minute. Desire is a strong word. We weren’t without desire. They work really hard every day, I can’t say anything about their attitude. But maybe we weren’t focused on our role. What I saw in the second half is what we do every day in training.”