Chelsea vs Everton. Premier League.
Stamford BridgeAttendance40,694.
Report and free match highlights as 18-year-old Billy Gilmour stars on his Premier League debut
Sunday 8 March 2020 20:13, UK
A dominant Chelsea thrashed Everton 4-0 in the Premier League on Super Sunday, making it an unhappy return to Stamford Bridge for Carlo Ancelotti.
The Everton boss had never faced Chelsea before in his managerial career and returned to Stamford Bridge for the first time since his sacking from the club in 2011, but it got off to the worst start when Mason Mount produced a fine, swivelled finish in the 14th minute.
Chelsea continued to dominate throughout - with 18-year-old Premier League debutante Billy Gilmour impressing once again - and the hosts doubled their lead seven minutes later as Pedro (21) slotted home.
But the game was ultimately decided just after the break, when Willian (51) and Olivier Giroud (54) hit Everton with two quick goals, leaving Ancelotti and his assistant Duncan Ferguson stoney-faced on the touchline.
The result keeps Chelsea three points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United - who beat Manchester City 2-0 later in the day - while Everton, who have now gone over four years without a Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge, remain in 12th.
Chelsea dominated the first half and went close early on, but Mount's hooked effort was well stopped as Jordan Pickford leapt across to make the save. However, in the 14th minute, the Everton goalkeeper could not keep out Mount for a second time.
It was the Chelsea midfielder who started the move off too, feeding Pedro down the left before receiving the ball back in the middle. He swivelled as he controlled and struck, sending his effort hammering into the bottom corner and beating his England team-mate.
Despite recent criticism, Pickford had a mostly solid first half and the scoreline could have been extended much further without him. He was in action again when Willian burst into the area from the right flank but with no one in support, went for goal himself, only to see his effort pushed away by the Everton goalkeeper at the near post.
But Chelsea did double their lead in the 21st minute. Ross Barkley slotted the ball into the feet of Pedro and the Spaniard burst away from two defenders before hitting home with a decisive finish. There were questions of offside, but he was easily on as the Blues took control of the match.
Everton's best first-half chance came five minutes later, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed by a fraction. Richarlison made a superb steal from the feet of Kurt Zouma before playing in his strike partner on the left. Calvert-Lewin - who had scored in his last three Premier League games - only needed to send the ball around the oncoming Kepa, but could not quite reach the far corner as the ball fizzed past the post.
Chelsea sucker-punched Everton twice in three minutes at the start of the second half to put the result beyond doubt. Willian added a sensational third in the 51st minute after Barkley slotted him through at the top of the area. The Brazilian struck from range and found the bottom corner.
And Chelsea made it four not long after from an excellent corner routine as Willian played it short to the impressive Gilmour on the left-hand side before receiving the ball back and fizzing a cross in front of the waiting pack. Giroud got away from his marker, Michael Keane, before sending the ball home with an outstretched foot.
Pickford made another sensational stop just before the hour mark. Barkley initially missed a cross into the area as he went down under pressure from Lucas Digne, but the loose ball fell to Pedro on the left-hand side. Looking for his second of the afternoon, he hammered the ball goalwards but the goalkeeper made a leaping save to keep him out.
The comfortable scoreline meant Lampard was able to hand Premier League debuts to two more Chelsea teenagers in the latter stages of the game. Eighteen-year-olds Tino Anjorin and Armando Broja came on in the 71st and 86th minutes respectively, and Anjorin almost nabbed himself a goal. Gilmour burst into the area before slotting the ball across for his teenage team-mate, but Anjorin's first touch was poor as Djibril Sidibe came across to clear.
You would never have guessed that Gilmour was 18 and making his Premier League debut, given the maturity of his performance.
He had an incredible pass rate of 92.5 per cent - completing 74 of his 80 passes - and made 72 good passes and crosses, according to Opta stats. He always seemed to have a bit of space around him and at one point, was even pointing to where captain Cesar Azpilcueta should be.
Sky Sports co-commentator Alan Smith said: "Another impressive performance. He hasn't tried to over-complicate but he's always tried to be positive in his passing and progressive - and he's normally found a team-mate, which is a handy habit to have."
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard: "At home, yes [it was the most complete performance] because of the goals and clean sheet. It's an easy one to analyse on that front but in terms of performance, I think we've been close to that a lot here and then I've mulled over a 1-0 defeat because we've had the energy but we haven't had the hard, unpredictable bit which is the goals that make a performance more and more comfortable.
"Today, we had that. I think we've reached levels and today it all came together with the finishing, the energy in the team, the passing and the speed of it, getting after the ball and winning it back and it's a nice little template.
"The whole attitude and focus felt really strong today after Liverpool. Maybe the challenges of the injuries today worked out OK, and we can't get too far ahead of ourselves, but I thought the application of the team was spot on.
"With Billy [Gilmour], I always felt that the more he trained with us, the better he got very quickly so for me, when he plays, he's just going to get better. I'm not going to jump the gun because it's two outstanding performances in, but when you watch his intelligence and his receiving of the ball, even for the second goal with how he swivels on the ball, he's always checking his shoulder, he plays a simple pass but he plays it right and with the perfect weight and he'll put his foot in.
"The confidence of him today and his personality, it's been a great start for him. I'm not too worried about him because I know what he's like as a boy, he's a good one and he'll know the right things and he has a big future, I hope."
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti: "What went wrong? Everything was wrong! From the first minute until the end, we were not in the game. We were slow, we were not compact and it's difficult to say something [specific] because everything was wrong today.
"It is not difficult to analyse this game. We were not good enough defensively, we were too open and with the ball, we made a lot of mistakes with passes so it is not a good day.
"We were too slow, we lost a lot of duels in middle and we were not in the game. Usually, we are used to playing a different game but today, we were not good enough. We didn't fight and everything was wrong, the strategy, the fighting spirit, the attitude.
"But what we can do is learn from our mistakes because it is the first game [since his arrival] where we didn't compete. Usually in the other games, we didn't win but we competed until the end of the game.
"We have to be focused, to analyse the game with what we did wrong... We have to look forward to another game [against Liverpool on Monday Night Football] that will be difficult but it can give us motivation because it's a derby and try to do our best. Everyone will take their own responsibility and try to do better."
Chelsea are back on Sky Sports next weekend when they travel to Aston Villa on Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).
It's a pretty big one for Everton too next weekend - they host Liverpool in a Merseyside derby, live on Monday Night Football (kick-off 8pm).
