Thomas Tuchel became the first Premier League manager to record five clean sheets in his opening five home matches after Chelsea defeated Everton 2-0 last night.
They arrived at that scoreline courtesy of a Ben Godfrey own goal and Jorginho’s second-half penalty. Kai Havertz had a goal ruled out for offside for Chelsea.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also produced an unbelievable save to keep out a deflected Marcos Alonso effort.
It is clear that Tuchel has had a big impact since arriving at the Blues in January. They are yet to taste defeat in the 11 games that the German has taken charge of.
His new side have already beaten Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Atletico Madrid under his management.
After the game, Tuchel told BT Sport: “We deserved to win. It was very difficult first half, where we struggled a little bit to find the moments for acceleration, but we controlled it completely.
“It was hard to find the spaces. In the second half we increased our level, we had shorter distances in passes, we found spaces better to escape the pressure, we had lots of dangerous attacks and we created many chances with ball wins.
“So the first half was difficult. Good performance, but difficult.”
Clean sheet record a sign of major progress under Tuchel
This latest clean sheet record is another sign of the positive progress Tuchel and Chelsea are making.
No Premier League team has conceded fewer than Chelsea’s two goals under the ex-Paris Saint Germain boss, in the period since he took charge.
The German immediately switched to a back three upon joining the club, and it has certainly paid dividends.
Andreas Christensen, who struggled for game time this season under predecessor Frank Lampard, has completed 90 minutes in Chelsea’s last four games. He was awarded man of the match by Sky Sports for his display in the 1-0 victory over Liverpool last week.
And before the Everton clash, Antonio Rudiger – who was linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge last summer – had featured in every Premier League game for Tuchel.
The Blues were boosted further last night by the return to the bench of Brazilian captain Thiago Silva. The defender had missed the last month through injury.
Chelsea currently sit in fourth place in the Premier League, with 50 points recorded from their 28 matches. Tuchel’s men next face Leeds United at Elland Road.
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