Abdoulaye Doucoure scored in his 100th Premier League appearance for Everton and substitute Lewis Dobbin netted a late second goal to earn a 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday that inflicted a third away defeat in a row on the mid-table London club.
Dwight McNeil surged forward with the ball on 54 minutes and slipped a pass to Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez saved the one-on-one chance, but Doucoure drilled the rebound into the far corner of the net.
Academy product Dobbin scored his first goal in an Everton shirt when he thrashed home a loose ball from a corner in injury time to seal the three points.
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Chelsea slipped to 12th in the table with 19 points from 16 games, while Everton has 13 points from 16 games. Without its 10-point deduction for financial breaches, against which it has appealed, Everton would be in 10th, four points ahead of Chelsea.
“We are so glad to win this game,” Doucoure said. “At Goodison Park, we know the fans are behind us. I’m very happy, two goals in two games. I’m delighted for the team.
Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure celebrates scoring their first goal. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
“It is a good number for me (six goals this season) so I just want to keep going. It was very difficult. We knew the game was going to be very tight.”
The visitors dominated possession and spent much of the game in the Everton half but lacked a clinical touch in the home side’s box while there was some excellent scrambling defence from the Merseysiders, who have now won three Premier League games in a row for the first time since March 2021.
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Abdoulaye Doucoure scored in his 100th Premier League appearance for Everton and substitute Lewis Dobbin netted a late second goal to earn a 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday that inflicted a third away defeat in a row on the mid-table London club.
Dwight McNeil surged forward with the ball in the 54th minute and slipped a pass to Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez saved the one-on-one chance, but Doucoure drilled the rebound into the far corner of the net.
Academy product Dobbin scored his first league goal in an Everton shirt when he thrashed home a loose ball from a corner in stoppage time to seal the three points.
Chelsea slipped to 12th in the table with 19 points from 16 games, while Everton has 13 points from 16 games. Without its 10-point deduction for financial breaches, against which it has appealed, Everton would be in 10th, four points ahead of Chelsea.
“We are so glad to win this game,” Doucoure said. “At Goodison Park, we know the fans are behind us. I’m very happy, two goals in two games. I’m delighted for the team.
“It is a good number for me (six goals this season) so I just want to keep going. It was very difficult. We knew the game was going to be very tight.”
The visitors dominated possession and spent much of the game in the Everton half but lacked a clinical touch in the home side’s box, while there was some excellent scrambling defence from the Merseysiders who have now won three Premier League games in a row for the first time since March 2021.
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Everton, vastly improved with its shape and defensive robustness in recent weeks, claimed a third clean sheet in a row and while it rode its luck, it was another impressive performance to follow Thursday’s 3-0 home win over Newcastle United.
Sean Dyche’s side have now won nine of their last 13 games in all competitions and are four points clear of the relegation zone. Chelsea has slipped 14 points behind in the race for Champions League qualification places.
Cole Palmer forced a good early save from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with a thunderous 30-yard shot, but Chelsea lost captain Reece James midway through the first half with a hamstring issue.
When Everton took the lead it was against the run of play, but under Dyche, it is happy to let the opposition have the ball and launch lightning-quick counter-attacks.
Its second goal was a moment to remember for 20-year-old Dobbin, who blasted a shot after Chelsea failed to sufficiently clear a corner.
Fulham trounces West Ham for consecutive 5-0 wins
A spirited Fulham side registered its second straight 5-0 victory in the Premier League on Sunday when it beat West Ham United at home in a one-sided London derby, with five different players getting their names on the score sheet.
Fulham, which also beat Nottingham Forest 5-0 on Wednesday, has hit a purple patch in front of goal in recent weeks, and Sunday’s win marked the fourth straight game in which it had scored at least three goals.
Marco Silva’s side were 3-0 up by the break with goals from Raul Jimenez, Willian and Tosin Adarabioyo, with two of those goals coming from set-pieces.
Harry Wilson then put the cherry on the top when he curled a stunning effort from outside the box in the second half. He then beat the offside trap to set up Carlos Vinicius for a tap-in to consign West Ham to its first defeat in five league games.
Fulham moved up to 10th in the standings on 21 points, three behind ninth-placed West Ham.
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