When Xabi Alonso woke up on Saturday morning, he would have been dreaming of a comfortable win and a clean sheet, and that’s exactly what he got. Pedro Neto got both goals for the Blues.

After nine months without a Premier League clean sheet, and 23 games since Liam Rosenior watched his Chelsea side keep a clean sheet against Brentford in January, Chelsea finally kept their opponents at bay.

After an inconsistent start to the Premier League, which has seen Chelsea lose to Arsenal and Brentford, draw with Hull, and beat Bournemouth in their last five league games, they now have two wins in a row.

Owen Hargreaves names the unsung hero in Chelsea’s team

All the plaudits continue to go to Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers. The front three’s prowess is majestic, even having numerous nicknames named after them. But Alonso has changed things up.

For a second game, it was a 4-4-2 system with Josh Acheampong at right-back, Neto and Morgan Rogers out wide, and Palmer playing off Pedro. The trio were good, without really making an impact today.

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Chelsea beat Everton 2-0 thanks to a Pedro Neto brace! Where can this team finish now that it’s finally settled? 😍 Why has it suddenly clicked?

This is Chelsea’s first clean sheet in the league since 17th January!

But it was Neto who had the telling impact. Described earlier as “underrated” by Owen Hargreaves on co-commentary, the TNT Sports pundit then handed Neto the man of the match award for his brace.

Interestingly, it was Neto’s first-ever Premier League brace. Hargreaves said he is Chelsea’s “unsung” hero: “The big moments have belonged to Pedro Neto. He’s definitely an unsung hero in this Chelsea team.”

Pedro Neto says Jorge Jesus is the secret behind Chelsea brace

Having clocked up 111 appearances for Chelsea since arriving at the club in 2024, Neto has only scored 21 goals for the Blues. A rate of a goal every five or six games, with fans criticising his end product.

But he put those doubts to bed today at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Speaking after the match, Neto explained that new Portugal manager Jorge Jesus was the secret behind it, urging him to place his shots.

He told TNT Sports reporter Jules Breach: “This comes a little bit from the new coach of the national team, who says when you are near the area you need to pass to the goal, so really happy with that.”

The win takes Chelsea into fourth place in the Premier League, ahead of the rest of the weekend’s games in the Premier League. Chelsea are next in action against Xabi Alonso’s old side Liverpool in the Cup.