Five things we took from Saturday evening’s clash at Goodison Park.
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Chelsea continued their winning start to the 2014/15 Premier League season with a 6-3 triumph over Everton at Goodison Park in a crazy game that saw the goals rain down in the second half after the Blues had taken control inside the opening three minutes.
Diego Costa bagged twice, whilst Everton striker Samuel Eto’o headed in a debut goal against his former club, but the Spaniard stole the show for Chelsea – although manager Jose Mourinho is likely to be concerned by the manner of his team’s defending in conceding three on Merseyside.
Here are five things that we took from the clash:
Filipe Luis has his work cut out breaking into the Chelsea team
Chelsea signed left back Filipe Luis from Atletico Madrid this summer for an eight figure fee, but the Brazilian is yet to find his way past Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azplicueta to claim a place in the first team. He did come on as a substitute in this clash, however, but looked nervous and uncertain as Everton launched waves of attacks on the Chelsea goal and certainly didn’t do enough to suggest that he will start next time out.
Whilst the usually reliable Azpilicueta struggled, Ivanovic, the man most likely to be dislodged by Luis, was absolutely immense once again, getting himself on the Chelsea scoresheet.
Muhamed Besic needs to get a lot better
Bosnia & Herzegovina international midfielder Muhamed Besic arrives at Everton highly rated from Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros – but his first touch at Goodison Park was little better than disastrous. Besic was caught in possession late on, allowing John Obi Mikel to charge forward and cleverly play on Diego Costa, with the powerful Spaniard holding off his man before firing home to make it 6-3. That can’t happen again it Besic is to be a success.
Premier League officiating remains questionable
Another man who had a frustrating evening was referee Jonathan Mass, who got a number of decisions wrong – including the inexplicable decision not to send off Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard for a clear handball outside the box in the opening stages of the match. He could even have gone later on after appearing to thrust his head into the face of an opponent, whilst Moss’ assistants fared no better, getting a number of seemingly simple calls wrong – including the decision to allow Ivanovic’s goal to stand.
Diego Costa is going to be a nightmare for Premier League defences
Diego Costa is a strange footballer to watch – an awkward, physical centre forward who seems to spend a ridiculous amount of time winding up defenders, but the former Atletico Madrid man is ridiculously effective. His dribbling isn’t pretty, but he is almost impossible to force off the ball, is good at bringing teammates into play and, when he gets a chance in front of goal, he tends to make no mistake – as was shown with two clinical finishes at Goodison Park.
Chelsea’s clash of styles means that they aren’t infallible
The biggest barrier to Chelsea winning the Premier League title this season may well be themselves, with the 6-3 win seeming to betray a tension between manager Jose Mourinho’s ethos and that of the exciting players such as Cesc Fabregas that he has brought to the club. The feeling from Mourinho’s post-match press conference was that he would like their attacking to be reigned in to allow for more defensive stability – but the Portuguese manager may well have bought players whose natural instinct isn’t to pull themselves back. It may be best for him to accept a 6-3 win as the natural outcome of his recruitment.