Written by kirsikka

Nothing surprising in the line-up, with Travers coming in for the ineligible Kepa and the experience of Smith preferred to the pace of Araujo. It was good to see Unal and Billing back and available again. The Dango injury is a huge shame, considering how impressively he has started the season, but hopefully, he'll be available again very soon.

Man of the match against Chelsea

We started on the front foot, trying to get at Chelsea, and were unlucky when Tavs absolutely gamooshed an incredible shot that came back off the bar.

Truthfully, we looked to have the measure of them for most of the match. The only danger came when we were sloppy tracking runners or with mistakes on the ball, and we would ultimately end up paying for the former of those.

Senesi was caught out a few times. One time ended with him making an excellent recovery challenge (only for the offside flag to go up) and another other required a good save from Travers. He also put in another last-ditch block to deny Jackson. A real mix of good and bad out there from him.

It wasn't a dirty game, but Anthony Taylor must have wanted plenty of primetime Saturday night screen time and started throwing yellow cards around like confetti. The only saving grace is that it was for both teams. 14 cautions is a PL record which is frankly stupid based on what happened in that match.

As an aside, it looks like Iraola's fitness coach is going to collect quite a few cautions this season... he's the designated dissenter.

Chelsea looked incredibly weak at right back and Tavs was taking full advantage of that. His most impressive performance so far this season and hopefully a sign he's hitting form again.

Evanilson showed striker instincts to pounce on the defensive error and force the penalty. Shame the lob didn't go in. Not the best penalty though, nice height for the keeper who guessed right.

We dominated after the break, at least until the subs happened again. Chelsea's gave them the extra impetus and we responded by going to the new no-striker tactic. It wasn't pretty.

Chelsea were immediately all over us with their best spell in the game. The lack of a focal point is a real concern. I understand Sini has pace to burn but we still haven't mastered having him up there.

On a positive note, we mostly nullified Palmer, which is impressive since he is usually the creative heartbeat of this Chelsea team. Very well marshalled by several players throughout.

Set pieces continue to be poorly taken. I've said it so many times before I'm not sure what else I can say...

The goal when it came was disappointing. Billing was lazy in his tracking (see above) meaning Araujo had to cover Sancho on the ball and a runner and so had to back off. Give quality players space and they'll find a good pass eventually... in it came and the striker just muscled it into the net.

It could also have been down to Semenyo, I'm not sure where he was at that moment in time. One/Three points thrown away by poor tracking is more than a little annoying.

Selected Player Watch

- Evanilson-It isn't quite happening for him yet. It might be it takes time but there have been some positive signs here and there. Poor penalty though.

- Tavs -Faded a little in the second half but his best performance so far this season. He's a vital cog in the Iraola machine so good to see more from him.

- Travers --Did everything you could have hoped from him in his appearance. Solid and unfortunate not to walk away with a clean sheet.

- Kluivert -Buzzed around like a wasp and caused Chelsea problems with his constant hustle. Unlucky to see a couple of decent shots well saved.

- Kerkez -Played like a man who wouldn't mind a move to Chelsea. Boundless energy.

AI and Tactics Watch

First things first, we were excellent for at least 60 minutes, AI absolutely nailed it and the team executed the plan perfectly in every way apart from scoring.

I wait to be convinced about the no specialist striker manoeuvre as it feels like we more often end up handing over the initiative when we try it. Could be a case of Unal not being ready for a longer appearance yet, I guess we'll see soon enough.

Tactically I think it was a good call to bring on Araujo to replace Smith as Chelsea sub Sancho was causing some problems. It's a shame the Mexican was hung out to dry by teammates when Sancho then created the goal

Overall we were the better side and any quibbles shouldn't lose sight of that. I'm still not sure what to make of our matches v Chelsea and Newcastle this season. Superior to supposedly better opposition in both and yet we only picked up one point from the two games

On the one hand, play like that against the so-called lesser teams and we should pick up a lot of points. However, we can't rely on creating even more chances in those matches. It's time to start being clinical as there are no guarantees about what is to come.

All in all, a pleasing but frustrating night at the office where we didn't get what we deserved. Again.

Oh, and another ref that was simply ridiculous but at least it was Bozo The Clown stuff for all the players this time, and not only the ones in red and black.

Your say...

DangerousDave said... Played well.

Didn't take chances.

Forward players and midfield players inevitably become tired due to constant press. Subs are made but we lack the depth in midfield and gaps start to appear. Scott is a talented player but he is not the player that we needed for this way of playing, would be good elsewhere but the wrong profile for us I feel. I feel as though recruiting a new central midfielder should have been the priority in the Summer as we have left ourselves in the position whereby when Christie tires or God forbid gets injured, the structure of the team falls apart. I fear that this won't be the last time this year that we look good and then get opened up when one of our first-choice midfielders has to be substituted.

Can't really argue with the performance, we were well on top until we had to make the subs and then we weren't!

Good to see Unal back, like the look of him. Not sure why but just get a feeling that he will do well if given a run.

Araujo, unfortunately, looks less convincing each time he plays. He is clearly quick but his one verses one defending looks shaky and doesn't look very comfortable when in possession. Not sure what Aarons has done so wrong to not even be making the squad?

Feel for Evanilson, he is looking bright and lively in spells and clearly has attributes that can be useful. It felt as though he telegraphed where he would put that penalty with that run up though.

Kluivert, Sini, Semenyo and Tavernier are all very lively attackers who will cause teams a lot of problems this season. Tavernier should be encouraged to shoot on sight as he has a rocket of a shot on him. He is going to score a screamer very soon fingers crossed.

Kerkez was very good today. Got the better of his man comfortably. Can see on that display why he's rated as having the potential to be a top-tier full-back. The issues came down the other side unfortunately.

AFCB_Liam wrote... Very frustrating given we were the better side for the most part, hit the bar, post, and missed a penalty. Maybe some evening out of luck from the football gods, seeing as we were horrific for 85 minutes at Everton and stole 3 points.

Switched off at the end, was a strange goal, because even with the errors in letting it get to Nkunku, you'd still expect Zabs and Senesi to deal with that. Chelsea made far more errors in possession and defence all night but we couldn't punish them.

Agree that Eva shouldn't have taken the penalty. Easy to say in hindsight, but the whole first goal thing just added extra pressure on it. I thought he had a decent game otherwise with some good link-up with Kluivert. I think he will come good eventually and is a definite handful for defenders, but right now we are a poorer side with him than we would be with Dom (to be expected for now). So while our squad may be stronger, we haven't strengthened our starting 11 since last season, despite certain people being desperate to herald the new Franno era. We also lack options in centre midfield until Adams returns as Scott cannot play the Christie or Cook role.

I thought everyone had a decent game. Probably one of Kerkez's best games for us (angling for a move?) and Cook was back to his best again. Tav was the pick of the attackers while Semenyo not quite at the levels he was previous couple of games but still created problems.

Lots to like about the performance, just a really frustrating outcome. - To join the conversation, click here.