Cesc Fàbregas and Álvaro Morata on target as Chelsea dispatch Everton

Chelsea enter the final week of the transfer window with much still to achieve in the market but momentum well and truly regained on the pitch. Confrontations with Everton have tended to bring the best out of Antonio Conte’s charges and the visitors, even with their ranks strengthened over the summer, were swept aside almost at will yet again by a team the Italian is desperate to reinforce. Conte must hope performances this dominant do not undermine his insistence with the board that strengthening is still desperately required.

In truth, a glimpse at Everton’s toils would actually justify his urgency. The champions benefited here from Everton having been overwhelmed as much by an onerous schedule as the home side’s persuasive football. The demands of taking on Manchester City, Hajduk Split and Chelsea within seven days proved beyond Ronald Koeman’s team, with weariness creeping into legs, fatigue into minds and sluggishness into approach play. Everton did not muster a single shot on target all afternoon and always appeared utterly incapable of retrieving the two‑goal deficit shipped before the break.

Chelsea bypassed them far too easily for comfort with Koeman, rendered ruddy in the searing afternoon sunshine, left to bemoan a lack of movement or incision. They will improve, particularly if the Dutchman secures the two players he feels are imperative – one at least must be a striker – before the cut-off. Chelsea want rather more than two new faces, with interest maintained in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Drinkwater and the visitors’ Ross Barkley, currently in rehabilitation from a torn hamstring. A trio of England internationals would add further depth to the squad with Champions League football a few weeks away. Yet at least the first-team is functioning efficiently again after that unexpected stutter against Burnley on the opening afternoon. Normality has been resumed on that front.

This was a more imposing performance than that which defeated Tottenham Hotspur on the counterattack at Wembley the previous Sunday. Chelsea found their upbeat tempo early and did not allow the rhythm to waver until the lead felt impregnable with Willian, a figure rejuvenated after last season’s regular interruptions, forever driving them forward and too much creation and energy in midfield for Everton to combat. It never threatened to become a repeat of last season’s 5-0 mauling in this arena, a home win inspired by Eden Hazard’s slippery movement, but it was still not much of a contest.

Jordan Pickford had already thwarted a series of Chelsea efforts before Everton eventually cracked, their concentration fractured at a quickly taken free-kick. Willian found Cesc Fàbregas who exchanged passes with Álvaro Morata, the striker eventually nodding down his return, the midfielder’s finish crisply dispatched low across the goalkeeper with the outside of his right boot.

The lead did not check Chelsea’s intent. Victor Moses was duly crunched on the edge of the penalty area five minutes from the break; the referee, Jon Moss, opted to play an advantage Conte did not instantly recognise. The Italian was still berating the fourth official when Willian lost the ball and still, in the confusion which ensued, while César Azpilicueta crossed and Morata eased beyond a static Phil Jagielka to steer a header past Pickford. It was the record signing’s second goal for his new club, and reward for another afternoon of industry.

Conte revealed post-match that, after speaking with Roberto Martínez, Hazard will link up with the Belgium squad and potentially make his return from ankle surgery in the World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar on Thursday. “The player is happy to go and stay with the national team,” the head coach said. “He’s the captain. But the most important thing is to continue to work very hard to improve, then have the possibility to bring him to the bench after the international break and start to think he’s a new player for Chelsea this season.”

Everton had issues with their own Belgian forward Kevin Mirallas, whose absence from the matchday squad was apparently due to a poor attitude. “He is struggling to deal with moments of disappointment,” Koeman said. “I expect from everybody to be part of the team. If somebody is showing that he is disappointed and his attitude is not the same, then I make decisions.” In contrast, Mo Besic’s second-half appearance here came despite his father, Meho, having been shot, in the hand and leg, at the family home near Srebrenik. “I spoke to him on Saturday evening and he’d spoken to his father,” the Dutchman said. “He said he was ready and committed. After the game he will talk to his family to see what he needs to do.”

That contributed to a difficult build-up, though they would still have expected to muster more of a threat than this. Sandro Ramírez latched on to Wayne Rooney’s slipped pass but saw a shot deflected behind by Antonio Rüdiger, and Ashley Williams guided a header just wide of Thibaut Courtois’ post, but that was as close as Everton came to a response. Their own pursuit of a forward would appear to be just as pressing as Chelsea’s search for senior bodies.