Chelsea extended their turnaround under new coach Thomas Tuchel with a 2-0 home win over Everton on Tuesday (NZ time), as Kai Havertz played a key role in both goals on his return to the starting XI.
The German play-maker had struggled to show Chelsea fans why the club paid a reported 71 million pounds ($NZ138m) for him last year. But it was his shot that Everton defender Ben Godfrey turned into his own net in the 31st minute after a Marcos Alonso cross.
In the 64th minute, Havertz raced on to a long ball and was brought down by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Jorginho scored from the spot after his trademark skip to send Pickford the wrong way.
Havertz had put the ball in the back of the net himself in the 53rd minute, but a VAR check confirmed that he used his arm to control the ball before turning and striking it past Pickford.
The England goalkeeper pulled off a string of saves to prevent his side from going down to a heavier defeat.
With the win Chelsea tightened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League table, four points ahead of Everton who are fifth.
It was the sixth win in nine league games for the Blues since Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard in late January and Chelsea have drawn the other three, conceding only two goals under their new coach.
Reuters.
