The Premier League is finally back and after a summer full of uncertainty, Chelsea got off to a winning start. On a ground where they have traditionally struggled, coming away with a win and a cleansheet sounds like the ideal start. However, on the field there were some troubles which became a feature of the second half of last season.
The match was severely low on quality and chances were at a premium. Chelsea’s goal came via a Jorginho penalty deep into the first-half stoppage time, which was afforded after Ben Godfrey’s lengthy on-field treatment. However apart from the spot-kick, the Blues failed to produce anything threatening. They saw off the match largely due to their hosts failing to mount anything in the final third.
The match followed a pattern similar to last season
One of the main reasons why Chelsea fell behind in the title race was their surprising inability to see out games. Thomas Tuchel’s men would take the lead but found various ways to squander it. Saturday’s 1-0 win over Everton almost followed a similar pattern, as Chelsea were clearly struggling to create in the second half. They had to resort to gamesmanship and time wasting to get over the line.
The only thing that saved the Blues from Deja vu was Everton’s rather flat performance. The Toffees were without the departed Richarlison, the injured Dominic Calver-Lewin or the suspended Salomon Rondon. So understandably Everton were blunt in the attacking department, without a recognized striker.
Chelsea may have dodged a bullet on matchweek 1, but going forward they will have to regain their lethal edge. Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner have gone, so there’s a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz and last season’s top scorer, Mason Mount.