Everton ended a two-month wait for a home league win as a spirited second-half display secured a 2-0 victory that dented Chelsea’s top-four hopes at Goodison Park.
The visitors dominated possession in the first half with Eden Hazard striking the post and Pedro wasting a chance from close range.
But their profligacy was punished four minutes after the break as Richarlison headed in following a corner for his 13th goal of the season.
And the visitors' woes increased on 71 minutes when Richarlison was brought down in the area by Marcos Alonso, with Gylfi Sigurdsson scoring the rebound from his own penalty.
Chelsea’s fourth loss in their last five away PL matches keeps them in sixth place on 57 points, whilst Everton climb to 11th on 40 points.
Marco Silva: "It would be easier for me just to speak about the second half. The first half I didn't like it at all, we were not there from the first minute. What we did in the second half was everything we planned during the week. The players showed great attitude, character and personality second half but we have to do it from the first minute."
Maurizio Sarri: "We played probably the best 45 minutes of the season and then, suddenly at the beginning of the second half, we stopped playing - I don't know why. We were in trouble. The situation was clear, it's clear the problem is not a physical problem, if it was physical you would go down gradually, not in one second. It's probably a mental block."
2-0 | ||
Richarlison 49' Gylfi Sigurdsson 72' |
