The Toffees would have relished the prospect of returning home to face Chelsea, whose recent trips to the blue side of Merseyside have rarely gone to plan.
Chances were few and far between in the opening exchanges, but Harrison Armstrong’s uncompromising tackle on Josh Acheampong seemed to energise the hosts.
Thierno Barry had their first clear-cut chance when he could only direct his header straight at Emiliano Martinez from Jack Grealish’s cross, before the latter almost broke the deadlock himself when his eye-catching strike bounced down into the ground and forced Martinez to parry the ball over the bar.
There was certainly no love lost between the two teams, as James Tarkowski unnecessarily barged down Moises Caicedo in an off-the-ball incident, which prompted a rather heated exchange with Morgan Rogers and Jordan Henderson.
Barry had another chance to draw first blood for Everton following some fine work by Vitali Mykolenko down the left, and Martinez was on hand to make another comfortable save.
The Blues were showing none of their usual attacking threat until the end of the half, as Caicedo’s stunning volley cannoned off the crossbar before Jordan Pickford tipped Pedro Neto’s strike over the bar.
That was a sign of things to come, as Xabi Alonso’s side took the lead inside the first minute after the restart.
Rogers and Jorrel Hato linked up brilliantly down the left-hand side, as the Dutchman teed up Neto to fire home a close-range shot, which squeezed under Pickford’s outstretched arm.
Chelsea were really starting to find their flow, with Cole Palmer seeing his attempted chip just clear the target.
All was seemingly going to plan for the visitors until Martinez was stretchered off after a hefty collision with Jarrad Branthwaite from an incoming set-piece, and Mike Penders was introduced for his Premier League debut, becoming the youngest goalkeeper to play in the competition for Chelsea.
There was still time for Alonso’s men to rubber-stamp the three points when the Portuguese showed excellent composure to slot in a left-footed finish after Henderson’s initial free-kick got caught up in Everton’s wall.
This result ensured Chelsea ended a nine-month run of 22 league games without a clean sheet in what was their longest absence of shut-outs since August 1961, as they moved up to fourth in the table.
Meanwhile, this first defeat of the season for David Moyes’ side sees them drop down a place to sixth ahead of the 3 pm kick-offs.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Pedro Neto (Chelsea)
