Everton’s fears of Premier League relegation significantly heightened after suffering a chastening 6-0 loss against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The turgid Toffees failed to muster any sort of response to their two-point deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules - as a first-half horror show saw Sean Dyche’s side put to the sword.
Cole Palmer netted four goals for Chelsea, with Everton remaining two points above the drop zone with six fixtures remaining. And to compound the Blues’ misery, Jarrad Branthwaite limped off in the second period.
Everton had the first chance of the encounter after 10 minutes which was spurned by Beto. Seamus Coleman fizzed in a cross and found Beto just yards out but he somehow skewed wide.
And soon afterwards, the Blues crumbled. They fell behind in the 13th minute when Palmer picked out the far corner with a fine finish from the edge of the box. Chelsea should have had a second just two minutes later when Palmer somehow missed from close range. But the England international made no mistake on 18 minutes after Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford parried Nicolas Jackson’s effort into the path of Palmer to stab home.
And in the 29th minute, any hopes of Dyche’s side mustering a comeback and salvaging a result were ended. Pickford had a moment of madness when his loose pass off his line gifted the ball to Palmer, who applied a superb finish to complete a hat-trick.
Beto had the ball in the back of the net for Everton but was ruled offside. Then a minute before the break, horrendous defending saw Jackson allowed too much space inside the box and he fired into the near corner.
It was about damage limitation for the visitors in the second period. But in the 61st minute, Chelsea were given a golden chance to increase their tally when Abdoulaye Doucoure’s late challenge on Palmer inside the box gave the home side a penalty. Palmer stepped up and coolly slotted beyond Pickford.
In truth, the game petered out after that with Chelsea securing three points and Everton failing to produce any real moments of quality. But there was to be another goal in the 90th minute when Pickford parried Ben Chilwell’s cross into the path of Alfie Gilchrist to bury.
The embarrassing defeat leaves Everton hovering over the drop zone in 16th ahead of a monumental clash against 17th-placed Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Here’s how we rated the Everton players.
1. Jordan Pickford - 3
Parried Jackson's shot straight into the path of Palmer for Chelsea's second then made an unforgivable error to hand the home side all three points. Also beaten at his near post by Jackson for Chelsea's fourth goal. Made one decent stop after the break.
2. Seamus Coleman - 3
Put a good cross in for Beto but got targeted aplenty by Chelsea in the first half - and couldn't do much about it. Subbed at half-time.
3. Jarrad Branthwaite - 3
Got completely done by Palmer before Chelsea's opener and looked unusually cumbersome in the first half. Worryingly subbed in the 57th minute with a suspected injury.
4. James Tarkowski - 3
All over the place in the first half and just gifted Jackson space to turn for Chelsea's fourth goal. Booked in the second half.