Metro reported on Saturday, October 17, 2026, that former Chelsea winger Joe Cole has questioned Jordan Pickford's goalkeeping after Everton suffered a 2-0 loss to Chelsea in their Premier League encounter.

Chelsea secured victory at the Hill Dickinson Stadium through a second-half brace from Pedro Neto. The Portuguese attacker found the net in both halves, earning Xabi Alonso's team three valuable points away from home.

While both goals contributed to Chelsea's success, Neto's late strike drew particular criticism from Cole, who believed Pickford's positioning could have been better.

Neto opened the scoring shortly after the interval, finishing Hato's cross into the bottom-right corner to put Chelsea ahead.

Everton struggled to produce a meaningful response as the visitors continued to threaten. Neto then scored again in the 90th minute to confirm Chelsea's victory.

His second goal came after a free-kick led to a fortunate rebound inside Everton's penalty area. Neto reacted to the opportunity by curling the ball beyond Pickford and securing the visitors' second goal.

During his post-match analysis on Premier League Productions, Cole argued that Pickford should have been in a better position to prevent the goal.

"Look at Pickford's position, I think he's asleep a little bit there," the former England international remarked.

Cole expressed surprise at the goalkeeper's positioning, questioning why he had moved so far from the area he was expected to defend. He suggested that Pickford might have anticipated the ball going out for a corner.

Nevertheless, Cole admitted that luck played a part in the goal, explaining that Neto was fortunate to see the ball fall into an ideal position inside the box.

Despite his concerns about Pickford's contribution, Cole believed Chelsea were deserving winners. He praised their defensive discipline and noted that Everton failed to create many clear scoring opportunities during the contest.

The result represented an important achievement for Alonso, as Chelsea moved up to fourth in the Premier League table.

Alonso expressed satisfaction with his players' performance, particularly their ability to remain defensively organised when the match became difficult.

The Chelsea manager also welcomed the clean sheet, describing the display as a professional effort and identifying several positive elements that his team could carry into future matches.

Meanwhile, Moyes will be disappointed with Everton's performance, especially their lack of attacking creativity and their inability to put Chelsea's defence under sustained pressure.

Although Pickford's role in Neto's second goal may attract further criticism, Everton's failure to create sufficient attacking opportunities was another important factor behind their defeat.