WE KNOW WE NEED TO GET BETTER

Chelsea get off to a winning start but Tuchel admits...

THOMAS TUCHEL was right, Chelsea were not at their highest level on day one. Certainly not going forward at least.

But it is also not often they come here and win so that alone would have been a huge source of satisfaction, regardless of the display.

Goodison Park is not a ground Chelsea have enjoyed visiting all that much for some time. They had lost their previous four in a row and nine of the last 13.

And even though Everton were without a striker following the sale of Richarlison, Dominic CalvertLewin’s knee injury and Salomon Rondon’s suspension, this still had the makings of another awkward trip to the blue half of Merseyside — a whipped-up Goodison Park on the opening and most optimistic day of the season for teams and their supporters.

Chelsea emerged unscathed this time thanks to Jorginho’s first-half penalty, won by Ben Chilwell, and, mainly, some timely contributions from their hugely experienced centre-back trio of captain Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and the debutant Kalidou Koulibaly.

Raheem Sterling was by far the sharpest of Chelsea’s front three, with Mason Mount and Kai Havertz quiet. With time and more additions the chemistry and quality, Tuchel will hope, will surely come.

‘We know we need to get better but first of all a win helps the most to be open for improvement and for the atmosphere and the spirit and from there we can build,’ Tuchel said.

In defeat, there was encouragement for Everton boss and former Chelsea great Frank Lampard.

Everton carried enough threat without a natural striker — Anthony Gordon, Demarai Gray and Dele Alli all popped up through the middle — for each member of Chelsea’s back three and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to come to the visitors’ rescue at differing points.

However, an early and sickening lower leg injury for Ben Godfrey was a huge negative, while the loss of Yerry Mina to a second-half injury was also a concern.

Both teams were feeling their way in when Everton suffered that Godfrey blow. Cruelly, there were a couple of points at which it could all have been avoided. Godfrey’s misplaced back pass forced Jordan Pickford to race out of his goal in a bid to prevent a corner. He was unable to reach the ball before it ran out, though the officials failed to spot that and play continued.

Godfrey, desperate to make amends, raced back and tackled Havertz who collected the loose ball.

But in doing so the Everton defender’s right leg got caught underneath his body and he was injured so seriously he immediately signalled for help.

Almost 10 minutes of treatment were required before he was taken off on a stretcher and taken straight to hospital.

Pickford was forced into a save from England team-mate Mount in the aftermath once play resumed but Everton, to their credit, were not unsettled by the loss of their team-mate.

If anything, their intensity went up, unnerving and disrupting Chelsea at times, and James Tarkowski forced Mendy into a flying save with one header before Gordon misjudged another.

Then followed a near-miss apiece when Gray failed to complete what looked like a simple through ball to an unmarked Gordon right after Everton found themselves in a two v one situation racing towards Chelsea’s goal, allowing Thiago Silva to deal with the danger with a typically classy interception. Sterling then thought he had grabbed a competitive debut goal only to be denied by an off-side flag.

Following Godfrey’s injury, eight minutes of additional time were signalled at the end of the first half and in the last of them Chelsea would seal their victory.

Koulibaly, adventurous at times, slipped Chilwell in behind Everton’s defence and Abdoulaye Doucoure clumsily bundled into the back of him, prompting referee Craig Pawson to point to the spot.

It set up a repeat, though in far less dramatic and nerve-shredding circumstances, of one of the shootout spot-kicks in the Euro 2020 final when Pickford denied Jorginho at Wembley.

This time, though, and after Mina tried his best to distract him, earning a booking in the process, Jorginho wrong-footed Pickford from 12 yards with the last meaningful kick of the half.

Everton carried the far greater threat for most of the second half. A communication breakdown between Mendy and Silva gave Gray a shooting chance from Alex Iwobi’s ball forward, the winger’s effort being deflected wide by the Brazilian.

Mendy then flapped at a corner but was quickly up and flying out to make a sprawling save to deny Doucoure before grabbing the ball as it bounced loose. Alli came on just after the hour mark and twice Azpilicueta was needed to sprint across and thwart him.

At the other end, Chelsea were struggling to link up and found chances hard to come by as the minutes wound down.

From the biggest chance they did create in the second half, summer signings Sterling and Marc Cucurella combined and the former’s effort was goalbound until Vitaliy Mykolenko flew in to block.

But the penalty chance they won and that Jorginho converted at the end of the first half would prove enough for Chelsea.

EVERTON (5-4-1): Pickford 7; Patterson 6.5, Mina 7.5 (Vinagre 70min, 6), Godfrey 6 (Holgate 18, 6), Tarkowski 7.5, Mykolenko 6.5; McNeil 6.5 (Alli 61, 6), Doucoure 7, Iwobi 8, Gray 6; Gordon 7.5.

Booked: Mina, Mykolenko, Holgate. Subs (not used): Begovic, Keane, Allan, Gbamin, Vinagre, Warrington, Mills.

CHELSEA (3-4-3): Mendy 7; Azpilicueta 7.5, Silva 8, Koulibaly 7.5 (Cucurella 75); James 6.5, Kante 7.5, Jorginho 7 (Gallagher 90), Chilwell 6 (Loftus-Cheek 65, 6); Mount 6.5 (Pulisic 65, 6), Sterling 7, Havertz 5.5 (Broja 74). Booked: James, Cucurella. Subs (not used): Arrizabalaga, Kovacic, Chalobah, Ziyech.

Referee: C Pawson 5.