Everton Afternoon Round-Up, Saturday 17th October 2026: Chelsea End Everton's Unbeaten Run with Neto Double

Everton's unbeaten start to the season came to an end this afternoon as Chelsea won 2-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Pedro Neto scoring both goals in the second half (Royal Blue Mersey) (Royal Blue Mersey) (BBC Sport) (The Guardian). Royal Blue Mersey described a dismal showing from the Blues, saying they were flat and short of ideas apart from a good spell in the first half (Royal Blue Mersey) (Royal Blue Mersey). The Guardian noted the win lifted Chelsea up to fourth in the table (The Guardian).

It wasn't a happy afternoon for Jordan Pickford either, with Royal Blue Mersey pointing to another error and further defensive mistakes contributing to the loss (Royal Blue Mersey). Player ratings from the BBC, Liverpool Echo and ToffeeWeb were largely unflattering, with the Echo singling out Ainsley Maitland-Niles and a struggling debutant for particularly poor marks, and ToffeeWeb suggesting nobody emerged with much credit (BBC Sport) (Liverpool Echo) (ToffeeWeb).

There was a worrying moment in the game when Chelsea goalkeeper Emi Martinez was stretchered off following a collision with Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite, with Xabi Alonso later giving an update on his condition (Liverpool Echo).

Manager David Moyes admitted afterwards that Everton simply did not play well (BBC Sport), and he was also critical of a challenge from Morgan Rogers, drawing a comparison with Harrison Armstrong in his post-match comments (Liverpool Echo). Elsewhere, the Liverpool Echo argued that the chaos of the transfer window has now caught up with Everton following this reversal in form (Liverpool Echo).

This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.