Everton 0-1 Chelsea
by James Nalton 
at Goodison Park

EVERTON and Chelsea played out 108 minutes of football on Saturday evening, but rarely did the game feel like it would produce a goal.

A lapse in concentration from Abdoulaye Doucoure, who blatantly pulled back Ben Chilwell in the box, led to the only clear chance of the game which was converted from the penalty spot by Jorginho.

Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli will have been disappointed not to score from reasonably good opportunities for their respective sides, but overall this was a game where neither attack really threatened the other’s defence.

Several stoppages, including one for a bad injury to Ben Godfrey, who will be out for months with what was described after the game as a “small fracture” to his fibula, meant there was plenty of added time at the end of both halves.

“The game was stuck in between the halves, not in our half, not in their half,” said Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.

“There were a lot of interruptions, no team could really find their rhythm.

“At some point, in the first match — an away game — you hang in and do what is necessary to keep a clean sheet and get the win.”

Frank Lampard might be the happier of the two managers, though, despite defeat. His makeshift lineup looked well-organised, if not too threatening in attack.

Winger Anthony Gordon played through the middle with Demarai Gray and new signing Dwight McNeil either side of him. They looked dangerous on the counter-attack but seemed to tire in key moments.

Striker Salomon Rondon will be available for Everton’s trip to Aston Villa next weekend having been suspended for this opener against Chelsea, while Amadou Onana was in the stands and the midfielder’s signing should be announced today, if it wasn’t already last night.

With Dominic Calvert-Lewin out injured, Lampard is also likely to add another forward to the squad before the transfer window closes, while Idrissa Gueye’s return to the club from Paris Saint-Germain is also close to being completed.

With this extra quality on top of the teamwork they showed against Chelsea, Everton will hope to avoid a repeat of last season’s disappointment.