SPOT-SICK TOFFEES GET THE FIRST-NIGHT BLUES
Jorginho’s first-half penalty saw Chelsea win at Goodison for the first time in five visits.
And a disappointing evening for Everton was made even worse by a double injury blow.
The home side’s Premier League campaign was barely 10 minutes old when Ben Godfrey was carried off on a stretcher and taken to hospital with a suspected leg break. And he was followed in the second half by fellow centre-back Yerry Mina.
Chelsea debutant Kalidou Koulibaly also limped off in the final 15 minutes but he played his part in the narrow victory by ensuring the Toffees were kept
out as they pushed for a secondhalf leveller.
Everton boss Frank Lampard said: “The penalty was the only difference between the teams. One tiny lack of focus and they got their goal. I felt a draw would have been a fair result.
“I’m frustrated but not in terms of our performance. I thought we were really good.”
Another ray of light was the per formance of Scotland full-back Nathan Patterson on his league debut.
Lampard added: “Nathan was confident and positive in his play. He’s going to get a lot better.”
The spot-kick decider came seconds before the interval in the time added on for the stoppage at Godfrey’s injury.
Jorginho beat Jordan Pickford from 12 yards after Abdoulaye Doucoure had clumsily pulled down Ben Chilwell.
Relieved Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said: “A win is a win and this is super important. We’ve struggled over recent years to get points here.
“We have things to improve but I’m happy with the first half, the second we lost too many balls and weren’t as dominant.”