The Argentine international was involved in a sickening head clash with Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite and was taken to hospital. Pedro Neto’s double condemned Everton to a first defeat of the season as Chelsea won 2-0 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium despite the loss of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to a head injury. Neto opened the scoring inside the first minute of the second half and secured the three points during the 11 added minutes following the lengthy treatment given to the stricken Martinez.
After a slow start, a fiery-tempered encounter sparked into life when Everton midfielder Harrison Armstrong launched into a tackle on Josh Acheampong for the first of five first-half yellow cards. The treatment for the goalkeeper threatened to halt Chelsea’s momentum as they controlled the second half. Chelsea had not kept a Premier League clean sheet in 22 matches stretching back to January, but were rarely troubled by an Everton side short on forward options despite the loss of Martinez.
Everton were furious that Morgan Rogers escaped a second booking just before the break after a thunderous clash with England team-mate James Garner.
