Cole Palmer’s Hat-Trick – Nicolas Jackson Penalty Row – Chelsea vs Everton Analysis
Chelsea’s performance in this Premier League season has been quite unpredictable. Last week, the team failed to secure a victory against the relegation-bound Sheffield United. Two games prior, they drew 2-2 with Burnley, the second-to-last team, despite having a one-goal lead and a man advantage.
Considering the significant transfer investments, these results have fallen short of expectations, with Chelsea missing out on the Carabao Cup final and currently sitting in a disappointing 9th place in the table.
One bright spot has been Cole Palmer, who has proven to be Chelsea’s most successful transfer of the season at Stamford Bridge. He has equaled Erling Haaland’s goal-scoring tally this season thanks to his outstanding performance in Chelsea’s 6-0 victory over Everton. Chelsea delivered one of their most convincing performances of the season, putting on a real show for the fans with this impressive win.
Starting Lineups
Chelsea’s injury woes have continued to plague them this season, with several key players unavailable for their match against Everton. In addition to the usual absentees like Reece James, Christopher Nkunku, and Romeo Lavia, this match also sees the absence of Enzo Fernandez and Axel Disasi due to injury, while Raheem Sterling is out due to a recent illness.
As a result, Connor Gallagher steps into Enzo Fernandez’s role alongside Moises Caicedo, while Cole Palmer plays as the central attacking midfielder, with Noni Madueke covering the right flank (Cole Palmer’s usual position). This game is another one in the series of experiments to answer the question “Can Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke be on the field and the same time?”.
Everton’s notable injury is the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, their main striker, who is replaced in this round by Beto.
An Intense Start for Both Sides
Cole Palmer kicks off with a pass to Thiago Silva, who passes the ball to Malo Gusto on the right wing. He quickly distributes the ball to Nicolas Jackson, who extends the pass to Cole Palmer in the center of the pitch. Palmer dribbles past Tarkowski and passes wide to Mykhaylo Mudryk, but the pass is slightly too far ahead. Chelsea keeps possession of the ball, and Conor Gallagher is fouled by Onana, earning a free kick that isn’t capitalized on.
Chelsea builds from the back with a three-man line: Thiago Silva in the center, Trevor Chalobah on the right wing, and Cucurella on the left. Malo Gusto sometimes inverts towards the center the build-up phase when he notices free space between Everton’s two defensive lines and moves in to occupy it.
At the beginning of the match, both teams adopt a mid-block defensive structure, waiting for opportunities to come out and press. We can see Petrovic and Pickford’s exits to clear the ball from dangerous positions because of the suffocating pressing by both teams.
Everton is quite aggressive in this early stage of the match, with 6 players in Chelsea’s half of the pitch. They create dangerous situations, notably when they confused Malo Gusto into a misplaced pass that goes directly out of play.
In the following minute, Everton waits on the edge of Petrovic’s box and effectively crowds the right side of the pitch, tackling Malo Gusto who attempted a dribble to create space, but fails due to Everton’s effective pressing. The ball reaches the opposite wing, where Coleman comes up the pitch quickly, loses Mudryk, receives a through ball, and crosses straight into the box. Unfortunately, Beto misses in front of the open goal, with a shot that has an xG of 0.95.
He misses because the ball hits his shin, and Beto can’t push it into the net. However, Coleman couldn’t have crossed a bit more gently because the cross could have been easily intercepted by Petrovic.
Chelsea Solves Everton’s Pressing and Manages to Score
In the 12th minute, Everton loses possession of the ball on the left side of the pitch after a poor throw-in. Chelsea resolves the situation with a pass back to Petrovic. The right side of the pitch is free due to Everton players’ being on the opposite wing for the throw-in. Petrovic passes to Malo Gusto, who is on the right.
Dwight McNeil immediately appears next to Malo Gusto to put pressure on him, and Caicedo drops back to receive a pass, followed by his assigned defender. Malo Gusto quickly passes to Chalobah, who then threads the perfect pass to Caicedo. This drop forces McNeil to turn around, creating space for Malo Gusto to move up the pitch and Caicedo finds him with his flick.
Malo Gusto moves up the side and distributes to Cole Palmer in the center, who shows his extraordinary technique with a dribble that takes him past Jarrad Branthwaite. Palmer is then squeezed by Garner and Onana, but manages to flick the ball out with his heel to Jackson who then sends it back to Palmer. He scores the first goal well-placed shot from the center of the box. This goal was made possible thanks to Cole Palmer’s exceptional technique, which shows us why he is the best signing Chelsea has made this year.
After the goal, Everton remains in pressing, but Chelsea manages to escape it with a long ball for Nicolas Jackson who droped back to the center of the pitch. Jackson finds Madueke who runs across the pitch through the center, behind Palmer, and passes to Mudryk on the wing, continuing his overlapping run. Mudryk returns the ball to Madueke, he crosses but the ball hits Palmer at hip level.
Cole Palmer’s Hat-Trick
Everton’s strategy relies on clearances and long balls from Pickford, followed by aggressive pressing in Chelsea’s half. The visitors have problems getting back in their own half when Chelsea manages to break through their pressing.
In the 17th minute, Everton commits a foul that gives Chelsea a free kick, which they take short. The left wing is crowded and through a series of duels, the ball reaches Caicedo.
Caicedo pushes through Everton’s defence and passes to Mudryk on the wing near the back line. Mudryk crosses for Jackson, but his shot is saved by Pickford. Cole Palmer comes from behind and elegantly heads the ball into the net, scoring Chelsea’s second goal!
From this point on, both teams drop in intensity a little. Everton continues to build with long balls from the goalkeeper, but their pressing is weaker.
In the 29th minute, Everton manages to maintain control of a long ball thrown into play, but Chelsea closes down the space well and forces a pass back to the defenders. Here, Pickford makes a huge mistake. He comes out to participate in the build-up and sends a pass into the center to Amadou Onana. Palmer intercepts the pass easily. Taking advantage of Pickford’s advanced position, Palmer chips the ball over the goalkeeper and completes his hat-trick!
Cola Palmer’s Continuous Contribution
Cole Palmer’s could have stopped playing at this point but the Englishman continued to extend Chelsea’s already considerable lead. Palmer made a vital contribution in all areas of the pitch, while also being the most advanced player for the blues.
Stats show us Cole Palmer’s advanced average position, as he played higher up the pitch than Nicolas Jackson, who had the role of a striker. It can be observed that the areas where Palmer operated were predominantly in the center-right area in front of the box, a natural position for him as he usually plays as a right winger.
Palmer did not hesitate to help in all areas of the pitch, dropping back both in the build-up phase and providing offensive support on the flanks as needed.
A clear example of Palmer’s versatility is the 44th-minute move. Receiving the ball from Mudryk on the left side of the pitch, Palmer sends a one-touch pass Cucurella, who was at the edge of offiside. Palmer’s pass has the perfect timing, and Cucurella reaches the ball just before it goes out of play. Cucurella crosses to Jackson, who controls the ball exceptionally well despite being surrounded by defenders and fires a volley for Chelsea’s fourth goal
Who’s Taking the Penalty for Chelsea?
The second half brought no change in the score for the visitors, with Everton unable to recover from the 4 goals conceded in the first half. An important incident in the second half occurred in the 61st minute, when Cole Palmer was fouled in the box. The referee allowed play to continue, but Madueke was eventually tackled cleanly. Since the advantage didn’t materialize, Paul Tierney stopped play and awarded Chelsea a penalty for the foul on Palmer.
Madueke wanted to take the penalty, considering he was the one fouled. However, Nicolas Jackson insisted on taking the penalty himself. The reason for the conflict is unclear, as Cole Palmer had been designated as Chelsea’s penalty taker this season.
Madueke and Jackson’s behavior was childish at best, raising questions about the confusion within the Chelsea team and the lack of direction, following the numerous changes in recent times.
Alfie Gilchrist Scores His First Goal in Premier League!
The final goal of the match came from Alfie Gilchrist, a Chelsea academy product who came on as a substitute for Malo Gusto in the 88th minute.
The pace of the match dropped considerably towards the end, with Everton resigned to defeat and Chelsea significantly reducing the intensity of their play, considering the important match against Manchester City in the FA Cup. Pochettino could have made his final substitutions earlier, given the comfortable 5-goal lead obtained in the 64th minute.
However, in the 90th minute, Conor Gallagher delivered a long ball from midfield to Ben Chilwell on the left wing. Chilwell shot, Pickford deflected and the ball reached Gilchrist, who executed a powerful volley and scored the final goal of the match, setting the final score at 6-0 for Chelsea.
This moment is extremely important for Gilchrist, as it represents his first Premier League goal. For Chelsea fans, it is a huge joy to see an academy player achieve such a feat.
Conclusions
Chelsea secured a spectacular 6-0 victory against Everton, displaying a much-improved performance compared to their recent games. Cole Palmer was the star of the show, scoring a hat-trick and delivering an impeccable performance. Nicolas Jackson also had a very good game, but it’s a shame that his performance was overshadowed by his unprofessional behavior at the penalty incident.
The match was full of goals and was a breath of fresh air for Chelsea fans after the string of somewhat disappointing results in recent times.
