Xabi Alonso’s fingerprints were all over the hard-fought win against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Pedro Neto opened the scoring shortly after the break by slotting the ball past Jordan Pickford from close range. Jorrel Hato combined superbly with Morgan Rogers down the left flank before picking out the unmarked Chelsea winger at the back post.
He then doubled the Blues’ lead in the final moments, saving Jordan Henderson’s blushes when his free-kick was saved by the wall. Instead of taking a wild swipe at the ball, which fell kindly at his feet, Neto held his nerve, showing himself before curling his first-time shot into the bottom corner.
Despite losing Amy Martinez midway through the second half after a nasty collision with Jarrod Branthwaite, Alonso’s side managed to secure their long-awaited point as they climbed into the Premier League’s top four.
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The Chelsea manager was delighted with the result on Merseyside – as he should have seen it sealed with his signature discipline and tenacity. So with that being said, football.london looked at the five main talking points from the weekend’s clash.
Neto is enjoying his special role at Chelsea
Neto impressed again on Saturday afternoon and relished his key role in the starting line-up. Under Alonso, the Blues winger has become essentially a full-back or a striker, simply tasked with an incredible array of out-of-possession tasks and responsibilities and carrying them out without fuss, meaning he often has to pull his weight in the back line.
No matter how you want to define Neto, he has quietly become one of the team’s most valuable tactical assets. Of course, the Portuguese has the physical qualities and technical ability to fulfill his roles at both ends of the pitch, but what sets him apart is his mentality.
Neto could have thrown his toys out of the pram when he was informed of his duty in the summer. But he’s got his head down, which, ironically, isn’t doing so much anymore and is honing his craft to become an important player.
Acheampong flowers
Like Neto, Acheampong has made great strides under Alonso, as he showed on Saturday afternoon. The Chelsea defender was shown a yellow card early in the game, but he casually refused to swallow it.
He composed himself and lined up down the right for the rest of the hour, chipping Jack Grealish and eventually Tyrick George to great effect. Acheampong has become the perfect right centre-half for the Blues: excellent on the ball, a one-on-one demon, a tough tackler, an aerial monster and a serial ground eater.
Henderson leads by example
Unfortunately, Henderson fell short of his two goals of the season this weekend, but he did shut down the middle of the park. It should come as no surprise that the Chelsea midfielder is down on the pitch and off the pitch: he fires up his teammates after every move and looks like the perfect teammate after every duel.
Palmer gives Alonso her flowers
After the full-time whistle, Romeo Lavia and Maxence Lacroix, watched closely by Henderson, led the Chelsea team to the end, where they celebrated the victory with the traveling supporters. Cole Palmer then pushed Alonso to the front of the group to cheers from both sides.
As the Blues manager soaked up the atmosphere, Morgan Rogers raced behind the pack to pick Neto apart. With a little help from Joao Pedro, the “Chelsea” winger was also brought to the front.
Henderson and Lacroix then took off their shirts and gave the three to the crowd. It was a great moment that the home faithful will surely appreciate after such an early morning!
Alonso’s influence at Chelsea is obvious
After just 7 games under Alonso’s management, Chelsea are already 11 points better than last season when playing the same or equal opponents. It’s still early days in the Premier League, of course, but the Blues have managed to pick up significant points from teams and, in the case of Hull City, who have just been promoted from the Championship Play-Offs, have previously been underpowered against them.
“Chelsea” finally keeps a clean sheet
Last but not least, the long awaited clean sheet. This weekend Chelsea kept a clean sheet for the first time in the Premier League since beating Brentford at Stamford Bridge in January 2026, and for the first time since December 2025 when they held Bournemouth to a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium in the Premier League.