Everton vs Chelsea. Premier League.
Goodison ParkAttendance39,280.
Report and free match highlights as Doucoure scores from a rebound and Dobbin drives in another as Everton make it back-to-back wins at home in the Premier League; Chelsea slump into bottom half; Reece James and Robert Sanchez injured for visitors
Monday 11 December 2023 06:15, UK
Abdoulaye Doucoure scored again before Lewis Dobbin grabbed his first goal for Everton as Sean Dyche's side pulled further away from the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over a blunt Chelsea side at Goodison Park.
Doucoure is relishing his attacking role under Dyche and followed up his finish in Thursday's win over Newcastle with another close-range conversion on Sunday, after Dominic Calvert-Lewin's shot was parried by Robert Sanchez. That's six for the season now for the Malian, his best total in Everton colours.
But an even bigger celebration was had in stoppage time when 20-year-old academy graduate Dobbin sealed the win by drilling in a loose ball from a corner.
Chelsea had piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser but the excellent Vitaliy Mykolenko smiled with relish as Everton repeatedly saw off the attacks and Goodison roared at the final whistle which sealed a third Premier League win in a row.
Everton stay 17th but they're now four points clear of the relegation zone - the same gap they'd have on a listless Chelsea had they not suffered their points deduction.
Last weekend a combative win with 10 players over Brighton had seemed to signal a turning point for Mauricio Pochettino's men but they were badly out of sorts in the final third here and, on the back of their midweek defeat at Manchester United, have slumped into the bottom half. Pochettino's search for a solution to this expensively-assembled squad's inconsistent form goes on.
Could the answer lie in more transfer window spending in January? "After the first half of the season, we need to check," said Pochettino. "That is the reality. If we are not receiving enough, maybe we need to do some movement.
"That is the thing to analyse with the sporting director, to see if we can change this dynamic and improve in the second half of the season. We need to be more aggressive. Then it's a massive assessment and when the transfer window opens, we will see what we can do.
"I don't say if I am going to ask for more or less players. It's to see if the perception matches the reality. We are missing something. We need to improve our reality."
The visitors' afternoon was made worse by a first-half injury to captain Reece James, who looks set to miss more game time with a hamstring problem, and a second-half injury to goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. But the lack of end product from the likes of Mykhailo Mudryk at the other end of the pitch remains just as big an issue.
In the end it was another memorable day at Goodison for the Everton fans, who celebrated loud and proud at the end of the game, just as they had after the Newcastle win. But in contrast it was a low-key first half.
After a couple of early stops from Jordan Pickford to keep out Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer, Chelsea's attacking threat petered out and the main talking point from the first 45 was the injuries suffered by James and Everton right-back Ashley Young, who were both forced off.
Jack Harrison had the best moment for the hosts, swivelling to volley the ball narrowly wide from just outside the box but they stepped up their attacking levels in the second half, with Dwight McNeil setting the tone.
He saw a powerful drive turned around the post by Sanchez soon after the interval as he searched for a third goal in three games. He then led the counter-attack for Doucoure's goal, driving forwards before playing in Calvert-Lewin, whose shot was blocked into the goalscorer's path.
That seemed to spark Chelsea into life, with wave after wave of attacks sent towards the Everton goal - but for all their endeavour the quality and precision from Pochettino's side was miles off.
Palmer looked the most likely and saw a free-kick saved by Pickford but Jarrad Branthwaite - who battled through a first-half knock - was a standout figure at the back for Everton, along with Mykolenko who defended excellently to deny Axel Disasi and Raheem Sterling twice.
Typically James Tarkowski also got in on the act, blocking a Mudryk shot - but the output from the Ukrainian all afternoon was frustrating. With his dribbling he repeatedly beat opponents but his cross or shot at the end of it was repeatedly off target.
Dyche was clearly frustrated when the fourth official indicated there would be seven minutes of added time, given the amount of work his side had put in, but he wasn't complaining when Chelsea replacement keeper Djordje Petrovic flapped at a corner and Dobbin drilled in to wrap it up and spark the celebrations.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino: "We dominated the game and we were the better side, but if you don't score goals it's difficult to win the games. It looked like we had made progress in this area but I think today we showed a lack of creativity. With a lack of concentration we concede one goal but we should have scored before."
On James' injury: "I don't like to talk too much about excuses. But this is the reality with one of the best full-backs in the world. We are really disappointed because we were playing really well. The circumstances had to change because Malo Gusto is recovering from his injury so we had to change the team. But even when Reece was out I think the team was playing well. We will assess in the next few days what is going on with his hamstring."
On Sanchez's injury: "Sanchez suffered a problem against Manchester United, an issue with his knee. He felt something during the second half. That's why he asked for the change. We hope that it's not a big issue, like Marc Cucurella, who twisted his ankle. From the beginning we are dealing with these situations and it's too much. It's a young team and we need everyone together if we want to build something solid."
Everton boss Sean Dyche on Pochettino saying Chelsea were the better side: "They're a very good team. Better in some ways. They kept the ball, they've got very good technical players, we know that. They've spent a fortune on players. He's a top manager so I wouldn't dispute his opinion. But what I would say is you've got to find ways of winning. That's the biggest pleasing thing for me. We're finding different ways of winning. There are games where we've dominated the chance count and won games, games where we haven't and won games, games where we have defended very resolutely like we had to today. That mixture is really important over a season's work."
On injury situation: "Gana just looked tired. Youngy, very similarly, has a niggly injury, we're hoping it's not serious. But these guys have put a big shift in."
On Dobbins' celebration: "It was a really authentic reaction. Everyone nowadays wants to do a dance. He's run to the corner, slid on his knees and went 'have that!' Who thinks they can do a dance? Everyone piled on, I loved that. That delight in their face. Magic. I couldn't be more delighted for him."
Everton head to relegation rivals Burnley for Saturday Night Football on December 16. Kick-off 5.30pm.
Chelsea host Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday December 16. Kick-off 3pm. They're at home again in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday December 19 against Newcastle, live on Sky Sports.
