The new era at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium produced one of its finest moments on Saturday as a 3-0 dismantling of Chelsea lifted Sean Dyche’s side to seventh place and raised serious questions about Liam Rosenior’s tenure at Stamford Bridge.
Beto opened the scoring on 33 minutes, guided home by a smart Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall assist, and Chelsea never really responded with anything convincing.
The Portuguese striker added a second in the 62nd minute, and Iliman Ndiaye finished the job on 76 with a precise strike into the corner off a Beto lay-off.
Chelsea had 63.8% possession throughout the match. They managed four shots on target. Everton had nine.
Jordan Pickford was repeatedly tested and repeatedly excellent. He denied Enzo Fernandez on a curling effort from outside the box in the second half with a strong save.
For Rosenior, the timing is damaging. In the past ten days, Chelsea have lost 8-2 on aggregate to PSG in the Champions League, been beaten at home by Newcastle, and now dismantled by Everton.
He said afterwards: “I’m still learning about this club.” He called it his most disappointing result to date. Those words will invite scrutiny from an ownership group that has not shown patience with previous managers.
Chelsea have now won just once in their last six Premier League games. They remain sixth in the table with the top five all in sight — but the form suggests the position may not hold.
Everton, meanwhile, are now within three points of Liverpool with a home Merseyside derby to come next month. The timing of that fixture has suddenly become very interesting.
The season that began with Everton fearing relegation has quietly become one that includes at least an outside chance at European football.
