The Blues had suffered two losses in London against Arsenal (2-1) and Brentford (3-0) in their last two Premier League away fixtures, and they were on a three-game winless streak in the competition before the international break.

They have bounced back from that faltering form in the right manner.

‘We needed a clean sheet’

Xabi Alonso watched his men batter Bournemouth 5-1 last weekend, and they backed up a more comfortable win with a hard-fought 2-0 triumph over the Toffees at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Neto netted both goals on the afternoon, and he sent out well wishes to the shot stopper signed over the summer who got caught in the crossfires with a nasty head collision during this feisty battle.

Fourth place and Tottenham next

Chelsea now sit in fourth place on a tally of 13 points, looking forward to the visit of Tottenham.

“Shame for Emiliano Martínez but we wish you all the best. This win is for him. We needed a clean sheet to be honest. I think we did a very good game. Emi deserved this, Mike Penders did as well.

"We know that they came man-to man. In the second half we adjusted some stuff. We tried to get the best of the man-to-man press and we got away. We got the cross and I could finish, so really happy.

"[The finishes] come a little bit from the new coach of the national team that says when you are near to the area you need to pass to the goal, so really happy with that.

"It's really important. We know it's tough to play away, even at home there are no easy games. We came here with personality, with good intentions to win the match and really happy with the result."