Chelsea 4-0 Everton: 3 reasons why the Blues won | Premier League 2019-20

Chelsea thumped Everton 4-0 in a fairly one-sided affair at Stamford Bridge. The Blues produced a memorable performance as they proceed towards a top-four finish. Frank Lampard's men started in a 4-3-3 formation with Billy Gilmour featuring at the base of midfield again. Their frontline consisted of Olivier Giroud, Willian, and Pedro with Mason Mount starting in an attacking midfield role. All four of Chelsea's forwards ended up scoring as the Blues won comfortably. Mason Mount scored after a rough patch while Ross Barkley showed great vision with two assists.

Everton started in a 4-4-2 with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison leading the line. The Toffees were outplayed completely as they failed to settle down. Everton has now lost three games away from home and this is certainly an issue for Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian has a lot of work to do as Everton is struggling at the moment.

Here, we take a look at 3 reasons why the Blues won.

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#1 A bright and positive start from Chelsea

Mason Mount is finally scoring goals again

Chelsea started the game off brightly as they looked extremely energetic in their play. The frontline pressed effectively and put the Everton defenders under a lot of pressure. This led to misplaced passes from the Toffees and helped the Blues gain an edge. Everton were poor with their movement and ended up gifting the ball to Chelsea more often than not.

Everton’s defence was sloppy in the opening few minutes as they weren’t able to deal with Giroud’s heading ability. Chelsea was able to play the ball through the aerial route comfortably as Giroud was dominating in the air. This gave a different dimension to Chelsea’s game and gave them an extra option to build-up play.

Ross Barkley and Mason Mount were efficient in their roles. They were able to pull defenders out of their positions and created spaces for the wide players to run into. Moreover, Gilmour was moving into space and was always available for a pass.

Chelsea was able to score early on in the game and take control of the game. This has been rare for them this season as their forwards haven’t been able to finish chances off. The initial pressure allowed the Blues to assert dominance and manipulate an unsettled Everton side.

#2 Everton’s tactical folly

Everton's defense struggled against Chelsea

Carlo Ancelotti got a great reception from Frank Lampard and Stamford Bridge, but he got his tactics slightly wrong against Chelsea, having decided to field two strikers, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, in a 4-4-2. Now, playing two strikers against a side like Chelsea is a big call as it can lead to some defensive issues. This decision backfired as both the strikers failed to make any impact.

The Toffees didn’t press off the ball as Billy Gilmour got the opportunity to move the ball around with ease. Everton should have placed a man to shadow Gilmour and make interceptions. However, they gave Chelsea too much space in midfield to run riot.

Mason Mount was essential in all of Chelsea’s attacks and did well to maintain possession. He ended up being too fast for Everton’s defenders as he linked up well with Ross Barkley and opened the scoring for Chelsea. Ross Barkley’s vision was also too much for Everton to handle as he played some beautiful through balls.

#1 Chelsea’s ability to kill the game

Olivier Giroud was in excellent form against Everton

Throughout the season, Chelsea has lacked a killer instinct in the attack. Their frontline has been largely ineffective as they have failed to finish several chances. Moreover, there have been several games this season where Chelsea has lost after opening the scoring. This has been because Chelsea hasn’t been able to kill the game towards the end. Their backline has often switched off after taking a lead. And this casual attitude has led to games like Bournemouth and Arsenal where Chelsea had to settle for a draw.

Against Everton, Chelsea looked determined and motivated. This could be because they were coming off a thumping win against Liverpool. Pedro and Willian were running their hearts out as they were chasing balls here and there and tracking back to help out in defense. The work-rates of all the midfielders were high as there were countless interceptions from Chelsea’s side.

As Chelsea walked into halftime with a two-goal lead, there was still a sense of uncertainty due to their habit of switching off towards the end. However, unlike previous games, they started the second half with the same energy and ended up scoring twice in the second half to seal the game.

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