Everton had not lost a league game, and Pedro Neto scored either side of Martínez’s stretcher to beat them 2-0
Chelsea won at the Hill Dickinson Stadium with two second-half goals from Pedro Neto, but lost goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez to hospital after a clash of heads with Jarrad Branthwaite.
Oct 17, 2026
Everton went into Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off still unbeaten in the Premier League. Two wins and four draws had them fifth, level on points with Chelsea. By full-time at the Hill Dickinson Stadium that run was over, and Pedro Neto had scored both goals in a 2-0 Chelsea win, the first less than a minute into the second half and the second in the 90th minute.
The win takes Chelsea to 13 points and into the top four, for now at least, with the rest of the weekend still to play. Everton stay on 10.
A scrappy first half
The first 45 minutes were bad-tempered more than they were good. Five players had been booked by half-time: Harrison Armstrong and James Tarkowski for Everton, and three Chelsea players, Pedro Neto among them.
There were chances at both ends. Moisés Caicedo hit the post for Chelsea, and Emiliano Martínez tipped a Jack Grealish shot over the bar at the other end. At half-time you could not have said which side was better.
Neto straight after the break
That changed within a minute of the restart. The ball was worked across the box from the left, and Neto, unmarked at the far post, beat Jordan Pickford. Everton’s defence had been the meanest part of their season. Before today they had let in five goals in six league games. Chelsea had conceded 13.
Then the game stopped for a long time. Midway through the second half, Martínez came out to punch away an Everton free-kick and clashed heads with Jarrad Branthwaite, who was going for the same ball. The Argentina goalkeeper was treated on the pitch for around ten minutes before he was carried off on a stretcher, and he was taken to hospital for scans. There was no word on his condition by the end of the match.
His replacement was Mike Penders, the 21-year-old Belgian, making his Premier League debut.
A blocked free-kick settles it
The second goal came deep into the game. A Chelsea free-kick in the 90th minute struck the Everton wall, the loose ball fell to Neto, and his shot took a touch off Vitaliy Mykolenko on its way past Pickford.
Chelsea were without their captain. Reece James has had minor surgery on his knee and Xabi Alonso said before the game that he will be out for “several weeks”. Without him they still kept Everton out for the full match.
Where it leaves them
For David Moyes the defeat is a small one in the table, since Everton have only dropped from level with Chelsea to three points behind. It still ends the unbeaten start that had been the story of their season.
Chelsea now have Martínez to worry about. Their next league game is Tottenham at Stamford Bridge next Saturday. If Martínez is not fit, Penders goes into a London derby with a single Premier League substitute appearance behind him.