How Everton’s supporters enjoyed themselves. The ‘oles’ which accompanied each pass towards the end. The chants of ‘sacked in the morning’ towards Liam Rosenior.
The cheers when Alejandro Garnacho overhit yet another cross, or when Cole Palmer expressed his frustration.
They had earned their party at Hill Dickinson Stadium by then. Everton were energetic and exciting. Jordan Pickford picked up his 100th clean sheet for the club in goal at one end. Beto scored twice at the other with Iliman Ndiaye burying their third.
They defended defiantly when needed, attacked at speed when afforded the opportunity, and were everything the visitors were not under Rosenior, who could only sit and scribble in his notebook in the Chelsea technical area as this horror show unfolded before his eyes.
This was not a display of a team knocked out of the Champions League only days ago and desperate to get back in it for next season.
More the type that encourages fans to throw around accusations of players downing tools at a time when Enzo Fernandez, who was wearing the captain’s armband here, has already hinted that he may look to leave this summer.
Chelsea suffered a humbling 3-0 defeat by Everton in the Premier League on Saturday night
Liam Rosenior’s side imploded on Merseyside and have now lost four games in a row
But Everton were exceptional and are well in the race to qualify for Europe for next season
If Fernandez is indeed tired of waiting for Chelsea’s project to come good – he joined in 2023 under the assumption they would be competing for Premier League and Champions League titles soon enough – then few will blame him for feeling that way.
Rosenior is the sixth head coach with whom he has worked, including caretakers. The worry for Chelsea is, if Fernandez is having those thoughts, then what are others such as Palmer and Moises Caicedo thinking?
That is a major concern for Chelsea as they contrive to throw away their chances of Champions League football next season. Liverpool had already lost at Brighton. Manchester United drew at Bournemouth. Rosenior’s side simply had to win here. They did not, and now the negativity will fester over the entirety of the international break.
They are in a spiral, having conceded 14 goals in five games, and not scoring in their last three outings, either. Rosenior is sick of his side giving away goals via individual errors.
He says they have been speaking on how to limit making these mistakes, and yet it just keeps happening. Twice Chelsea could easily have handed Everton the lead here.
First, Wesley Fofana tried and failed to play out of the back. His pass was intended for Romeo Lavia, but it only led to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall dancing his way into the box against his former side, until Moises Caicedo cleaned up the mess made by Fofana with a big tackle.
Then, Robert Sanchez had the ball at his feet, but not the foggiest what to do with it. He dawdled so long that Beto eventually took it from him, and a stroke of luck saw the visitors able to clear before Everton’s striker tapped in.
It was embarrassing, the performance being put up by Chelsea. No energy. No invention. A few of their players looked like they hardly gave a damn.
One rare chance arrived when Palmer flicked the ball into the path of Joao Pedro, but his eventual crack was blocked by James Tarkowski. When Everton took the lead after 33 minutes, they deserved it.
James Garner’s pass in behind Chelsea’s back line, slipped in between Fofana and Jorrel Hato, was perfect for Beto. He charged on to it and dinked the ball over Sanchez.
It was a great pass, great run, great finish, and the Hill Dickinson Stadium erupted because their dominance had been converted into a lead. As for Chelsea, this was now their ninth consecutive Premier League game without a clean sheet.
Beto was in inspired form and scored twice as he punished a string of defensive errors
Iliman Ndiaye added the cherry on top with a superb third to send Everton fans into dreamland
The defeat was another blow to Chelsea’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League
Before half-time, Enzo Fernandez had the opportunity to equalise out of nowhere. It was from a Chelsea corner, and the ball fell to him kindly, central to goal and eight yards from it. Pickford made a sensational save to deny the visiting captain.
Fernandez nearly talked his way into a yellow card after the half-time whistle as he would not leave our match official alone. Another referee would have run out of his patience, but Sam Barrott showed leniency.
Why Fernandez was complaining, who knows. His own team’s performance had been the problem, not the officiating, and the Argentinian had hardly played well himself.
Everton doubled their lead after 62 minutes. On as a substitute, Andrey Santos’ pass in midfield should have been simple but he overhit it, finding neither Fernandez nor Marc Cucurella as Idrissa Gueye picked up possession instead.
He charged forward and found Beto, who scored on the spin, his shot going straight through Sanchez. It involved yet more mistakes – Santos for his poor pass, Sanchez for how he was beaten, and Fofana for not following Beto.
Chelsea’s Under 18s were 2-0 down to Reading earlier in the day. They came back to win 3-2, scoring in the 84th, 85th and 90th minutes.
There would be none of that here. In the 76th minute, Everton attacked and scored again, Ndiaye straight into the top corner with a beauty, as Rosenior could only sit and stare at his notes, beaten again.
