Danny Murphy reserved special praise for Josh Acheampong and Jorrel Hato after Chelsea moved into the top four with a 2-0 victory over Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Pedro Neto scored at either end of the second half to make it two wins from two for Chelsea after the international break, with Xabi Alonso’s men netting seven times and conceding just once in that time.

Emiliano Martinez’s serious-looking head injury took some of the gloss off an otherwise positive afternoon for the Blues, but Alonso confirmed the goalkeeper was conscious when facing the media shortly after the final whistle.

Saturday’s result represented Everton’s opening defeat of the Premier League season and also Chelsea’s first clean sheet of the 2026/27 top-flight campaign.

The west London giants will look to pick up where they left off when they return to action at home to bitter rivals Tottenham – who sit rock-bottom of the table – in a week’s time.

However, Alonso was keen not to get overly carried away with his side’s recent showings, insisting his players were still in the ‘early days’ of their development as a unit.

‘You need a lot of clean sheets to win trophies,’ the Spaniard told reporters.

‘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.

‘We are still early days. This first part we’ve been doing good things, other things to be improved.

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‘To do a very deep analysis, it’s too early probably.’

Analysing the match in the Match of the Day studio, Murphy was similarly reluctant to wax lyrical when it came to Chelsea’s overall performance on the day.

However, the former Liverpool, Tottenham and England midfielder believes the clean sheet will have done Alonso’s men ‘the world of good’ after their up-and-down start to the season.

‘They’re improving,’ Murphy said.

‘It was a big thing getting a clean sheet, there had been a lot of talk about their defensive fragility and they will be pleased to have put that to bed today.

‘I thought the wing-backs, Acheampong and Hato, were terrific, both of them. There was a composure about them in the second half.

‘I thought they managed the game well and they’ve got strength in depth.

‘That clean sheet will do the players at the back and the goalkeeper the world of good.’

There was a contentious moment towards the end of the first half as James Garner and Morgan Rogers flew into a 50-50 challenge near the touchline on Merseyside.

The Toffees felt Rogers should have been given his marching orders for the tackle given the England international had already been booked.

However, Murphy was adamant that referee Paul Tierney made the correct decision in allowing the match to continue after what he described as a ‘really fair tackle’ between two ‘honest’ competitors.

‘No, it doesn’t [look great],’ Murphy said.

‘But I think that’s two honest lads going in with a really fair tackle, neither of them trying to stitch each other up by rolling around.

‘We didn’t hear any screams when it happened, I think that’s credit to them.

‘Also, we’re always quick to jump on the officials when they make mistakes… I thought the refereeing of that game was really good from Paul Tierney and his team.

‘That also helped the enjoyment of the game for us watching it and the crowd. We saw a tough, competitive game there and that was partly down to the good officiating so well done.’

Murphy was less than impressed with Pickford’s goalkeeping for Neto’s opening strike after the England international allowed the ball to roll underneath his outstretched left arm.

‘I think a goalkeeper of his quality and consistency would be disappointed letting that in,’ he said.