According to a report by Metro on Sunday October 18, 2026, former England midfielder Danny Murphy has praised Chelsea youngsters Josh Acheampong and Jorrel Hato following the Blues’ 2-0 victory over Everton in the Premier League.

Chelsea secured their second consecutive win after the international break, with Pedro Neto scoring twice to give Xabi Alonso’s side all three points at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The result moved Chelsea into the top four and delivered their first Premier League clean sheet of the 2026/27 campaign.

Speaking on Match of the Day, Murphy singled out Acheampong and Hato for their performances, believing both wing-backs played an important role in Chelsea’s defensive improvement.

“I thought the wing-backs, Acheampong and Hato, were terrific, both of them,” Murphy said.

“There was a composure about them in the second half. I thought they managed the game well and they’ve got strength in depth.”

Chelsea had faced questions over their defensive consistency following an inconsistent start to the season. However, Murphy believes keeping a clean sheet against Everton will provide a significant boost to the players at the back.

“That clean sheet will do the players at the back and the goalkeeper the world of good,” he added.

Alonso also acknowledged that his team still had plenty of work to do, despite the encouraging result. The Chelsea manager stressed that his players were still in the early stages of developing as a unit and needed to improve in several areas.

“You need a lot of clean sheets to win trophies,” Alonso said. “But you need to score a lot of goals. So it’s about being strong in defence, being good in attack and we are in that process.”

The Spaniard added that it was too early to conduct a deep assessment of his team’s progress, although he was pleased with the positive signs shown so far.

Neto’s brace proved decisive against Everton, but the performance of Acheampong and Hato also offered encouragement as Chelsea look to build greater defensive stability.