Everton 1-0 Chelsea: Martinez outfoxes Mourinho in battle of wits

Everton’s best chances came on the counter and most of those were from the right flank. Eden Hazard’s limited defensive abilities were were not helping Ashley Cole as he was dealing with constant overloads when Everton had the ball. The goal, which came on the stroke of halftime was from the right wing of Everton. A mistake from Ramires in his own half led to the goal and Jose Mourinho was not a happy man walking down the tunnel for his halftime talk.

Second Half

Conceding a goal just before half time was like a punch in the face, as Chelsea dominated most of the first half and a minor error led to the goal. It goes on to show the fine lines between goal and no goal. Mourinho surely would have given a rousing pep talk during the break as the Chelsea team that came out for the second half was in an overdrive mode, pressing rapidly and hassling Everton into conceding possession. By the look of things, it was clear that the plan was to score a goal in the opening ten minutes of the second half. Everton were able to hold back the waves of attack and Mourinho was forced to change to Plan B.

This second half was a brilliant example of reactive and adaptable football. Mourinho’s changes prompted Martinez to react and plan counter-measures.

With the initial plan not yielding any fruit, Mourinho sent on Oscar and Lampard for Mata and Schurrle on the 57th minute mark. Oscar was a direct swap while Lampard settled beside Mikel and Ramires moved to the right wing. Oscar and Hazard were tremendous in the opening games of the season and they recreated that fluid, intricate football again.

Chelsea pushed on for the goal by overloading the center of the pitch. All of Hazard, Oscar, Ramires and Eto’o were outnumbering Barry and Osman just ahead of the Everton defense. The 10 minutes that followed saw Chelsea dominate the ball but the resilience of the Everton back 4 helped the Toffees to stay in the game.

Roberto Martinez reacted by bringing on midfielder, James McCarthy for a striker, Nikica Jelavic on the 66th-minute mark. This substitution added an extra number in the midfield for Everton and Chelsea was nullified again. Kevin Mirallas moved upfront to occupy the striking position. The Everton formation changed to a 4-5-1, with a flat midfield 5, defending deep in their half.

Chelsea now didn’t need many bodies in defense as Mirallas was the only one operating in advanced position for Everton. Mourinho responded almost immediately by bringing on Fernando Torres for Ashley Cole.

Chelsea shifted to the 3 and half backline with Ramires playing as half-fullback half-winger, the wingback. The formation resembled more of a hybrid between a 4-2-4 and a 3-3-4.

Mourinho’s men threw everything at Everton but they were not able to breach the tight spaces between the lines. This strategy from Mourinho was highly risky as they didn’t have enough players to defend the Everton counter attacks. Chelsea lost the ball numerous times in compromising positions and only some luck coupled with well-timed tackles kept them in the game.

Mirallas was creating havoc, taking on Luiz and Terry on counters. One such incident prompted Luiz to foul the Belgian on the half way line when he was almost through on goal. Luiz was fortunate to escape with a yellow.

Mourinho used the same hybrid formation during his time at Real Madrid. Only now, it seemed that the Spanish team was the only one to excel with such a setup. The present Chelsea team were playing it for the first time and clearly they were not good. There was no fixed shape in which they were operating but once they lost possession, it seemed as though every player was scattered.

Everton were able to stitch simple passes comfortably in the Chelsea half, forcing the Londoners to retort to rash tackles. A flurry of yellow cards later, Martinez opted to use his remaining subs.

Defender John Stones came on for Steven Naismith and striker Gerard Deulofeu came on for a tired Mirallas. Everton were now in a 5-4-1 shape, which pretty much guaranteed the first win for Roberto Martinez as the Everton manager.

Statistics

The following graphic shows a brief statistical summary of the match.

Match StatisticsSource: Squawka.com

Chelsea had a total of 22 shots of which 6 of them were on target. Everton had 11 shots of which 5 were on target.

Total ShotsSource: Squawka.com

Conclusion

It was a hard lesson for Jose Mourinho as he tasted his first defeat of the League campaign. This Chelsea team falls short in certain minor aspects of the game. The questions on their frontman still linger and the need for a complete midfielder grows after every match. Chelsea, though they played good, attacking football, lacked decisiveness and squandered many chances. 22 shots and no goal highlights the need for a good striker.

The Everton players were determined, played their hearts out, stuck to the plan laid by their manager and executed it with precision.

Goodison Park will not be an easy place to visit this season, given Lukaku, Deulofeu and Pienaar didn’t feature in this match. Roberto Martinez is improving his credibility as a tactical manager and once he manages to integrate Lukaku into his system, goals and wins will follow.

Gareth Barry, Leon Osman and Steven Naismith were the key players for Everton and are the contenders for the Man of the Match award. While the goal from Naismith is important, the strong and steely presence of Barry was crucial for Everton to play with confidence.

Man of the Match: Gareth Barry