The ECHO’s Everton reporter Joe Thomas gives us his verdict on the superb and emphatic 3-0 victory over Chelsea
20:43, 21 Mar 2026Updated 11:59, 22 Mar 2026
David Moyes waves to the fans after Everton’s 3-0 win over Chelsea(Image: Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
As Z-Cars blared and hundreds of flags greeted the Everton players onto the pitch, a World Cup winner could no longer hold back. Marco Materazzi picked up his mobile phone, pointed it at the raucous South Stand and recorded the beautiful chaos in front of him.
Ten minutes later, as the atmosphere continued its attack on the senses, as 50,000 Blues booed the Premier League and the club whose punishment for wrongdoing this week paled in comparison to that suffered by Everton, another World Cup winner buckled under the pressure. Enzo Fernandez gathered the ball just past the halfway line and spread a curling pass to his right. There was no-one there.
In the attack that followed, the Blues won a corner. The stadium erupted. Then Beto stole the ball from Robert Sanchez and almost scored. The stadium erupted. When the same player later dinked the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper to break the deadlock, the stadium erupted.
It was a lead that Everton would not relinquish. They stood tall in the face of the pressure. Chelsea wilted.
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This was a night, a spectacle, an occasion that was everything the Blues could have wanted. Hill Dickinson Stadium seethed with hostility towards the visitors and lauded every effort made by a player in Royal Blue. This was the very best of this Everton team and the very best of the home support, amplified by an arena built to support and celebrate both
The Blues entered this game under pressure. A narrow, cruel defeat at the leaders Arsenal last week, coupled with good results for the teams around them, meant they could have lost serious ground in the fight for Europe had they lost to Chelsea. Instead, after this breathtaking display, they enter a three week break in contention for the Champions League.
That might sound far fetched but anything felt possible as the players danced off the pitch with the crowd singing: ‘I’ve never felt more like singing the Blues.’
Liverpool’s earlier defeat to Brighton had felt like a damaging result in Everton’s battle for midweek football on the continent, with the Seagulls moving above them in the table. It can now be seen as an opportunity – Liverpool, in fifth, are just three points ahead after this 3-0 win.
The performance was as emphatic as the scoreline suggests. This was a statement win, one the new stadium has needed since its opening in the summer sunshine some eight months ago.
It was richly deserved. Everton bristled with intensity from the opening seconds, snapping, snarling, biting into every challenge and chasing every cause in a fever dream of ferocity.
When James Garner nipped in front of Romeo Lavia to steal the ball on the halfway line after four minutes it prompted a wave of support from the stands that simmered into a crescendo of “Premier League, corrupt as f***”, a reference to Chelsea’s pitiful £10m punishment for years of secret payments that helped them attain glory.
The points deductions handed to Everton for their own financial misdemeanours put the club at risk of a relegation that could have proved fatal – and unlike Chelsea’s, their actions were not even deemed to have been deliberate.
This is a different Everton though. It is a club that has had to fight to get to its turning point. That began with a coach welcome ahead of a vital win over Chelsea at Goodison Park under Frank Lampard.
Blue flares, ceremonial dog walks and Jordan Pickford’s brilliance were crucial that day. There were more pyrotechnics and there was more Pickford brilliance after crowds lined Regent Road for the first player welcome at the new stadium.
The Blues took the lead before Pickford was called into action. For 30 minutes they had made life impossible for Chelsea. Just as the visitors threatened to seize the initiative, Garner played an inch-perfect through ball, one later hailed as “exquisite” by David Moyes, and Beto curved his run behind Wesley Fofana before placing a cute finish over Sanchez. Mayhem ensued.
Then it was Pickford, called up for England alongside the irrepressible Garner, who stepped up. Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior held his head in his hands after the keeper reacted superbly to push Enzo Fernandez’s half volley over the bar.
Everton entered the changing rooms having delivered their best 45 minutes at their new stadium. They then bettered it after the break, almost taking the lead in the opening seconds only for Sanchez to grasp James Tarkowski’s knock down just before Beto could pounce.
Both sides showed intent and the game started to open up, Pickford pushing Fernandez’s curling effort around his post to protect the advantage. That was it for Chelsea, though.
Moments later Idrissa Gueye stole between two away players to boot the ball up the pitch and then chase it down, carrying it to the edge of the area. Once there, he played Beto behind the defence and the Guinea-Bissau international shot on the turn. The angle was tight but Sanchez’s hands were weak and he spilled the ball over the goal line. The sound of “Ole, ole, ole, Beto” swept over the ground like a tidal wave.
The goal came on the hour mark and ended this game as a contest. The match turned from a football game to a party from that point. There was no doubt, no anxiety, no nerves, on or off the pitch. Just one big celebration of the type of night that felt such a distant fantasy during the years of hardship that preceded a campaign that is exceeding expectations.
The ground exploded once more when Iliman Ndiaye curled into the top corner, adding the gloss on a stunning display with a supreme goal that underscored his emergence as one of the world’s foremost wingers this season.
That the goal was not needed made it feel even more satisfying. A team that has struggled for goals for so long was now scoring them for fun.
This stadium was built for nights like this. Everton’s fanbase fought so hard, for so long, for nights like this.
There were times when the fear that neither the ground nor famous nights under new lights would materialise. Against Chelsea, those dreams became real.