Everton started off their 2022-23 Premier League campaign with a hard fought 1-0 loss to Chelsea. In a truly wild match that included almost 20 minutes of extra-time, Chelsea midfielder Jorginho bagged the only goal in the 55th minute of the first half.

So obviously if you’re playing 55 minutes in a half of football, something has gone terribly wrong. Unfortunately for Everton, they were the recipient of bad luck. Starting defender Ben Godfrey left the match in the 15th minute after a nasty looking leg injury caused by a ridiculous set of circumstances. Godfrey started the play with a poor backpass to keeper Jordan Pickford, who attempted to keep the ball in play. He managed to play the ball, but the linesman missed that it had cleared the touchline by a pretty large margin. Pickford’s pass ended up at the feet of Chelsea forward Kai Havertz, who was then disposed by a streaking Godfrey for a corner. Godfrey injured his leg on his challenge, which forced Frank Lampard to bring on Mason Holgate to play centerback. Yerry Mina ended up leaving injured during the second half as well, leaving the team thin at the position again this year.

Jorginho scored the only goal of the match later in the first half after a penalty was given for Chelsea. Chelsea’s left wingback Ben Chilwell made a run into the box and was fouled by Abdoulaye Doucoure. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed by Craig Pawson’s decision to point to the spot. I suppose it’s probably a foul, but Chilwell threw himself to the ground. I have no doubt that if Anthony Gordon made the same play we don’t get rewarded with a penalty. Jorginho beat Pickford in what was really the only meaningful play of the match.

I’m a bit let down by the result if I’m being honest. Chelsea was extremely open defensively and I felt like we would have scored if Demarai Gray and the other forwards were better with the ball at their feet. Anthony Gordon was extremely energetic, but didn’t offer much quality. New signings Dwight McNeil and James Tarkowski were both solid, and now the club will have to rely on Tarky even more with the injuries to Godfrey and Yerry Mina (shocker). Dele was subbed on for McNeil in the 60th minute and was pretty active in the match. I understand why Lampard chose the pace of Gray and Gordon over Dele in that striker role, but I think Dele offers more, even if he did flub a great chance today.

The main issue I had with our tactics today was the decision to have Pickford and the defense attempt long passes up to our front-line to move the ball. It felt like we just gave the ball away every single time. Pickford’s distribution is usually fine, but without anyone to target up front in the first half, it was disastrous. Gordon, Gray, and McNeil aren’t going to beat Thiago Silva for a header. Once Dele came on they were able to occasionally win one, but the decision definitely hurt in the first half.

My man of the match has to be Alex Iwobi. I haven’t mentioned the midfield much, but Iwobi and Doucoure were both engines out there today. Iwobi is fantastic on the ball and was able to pick out passes to Gordon and Gray multiple times. If he ever figures out how to play in the final third, he could be a damn good player for a long time.

I am very much looking forward to the imminent signings of Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gana Gueye to bolster the midfield. Those two with Iwobi, Doucoure, and Allan is a really solid group for a mid-table side. Hopefully the goals start coming without DCL because you never know how long he’s gonna be fit for. We clearly can’t rely on his health at this point, so guys like Dele and Salomon Rondon need to step up for the time being.

On to Lucas Digne and Aston Villa next week…