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Chelsea sweep past Everton with relative ease in 0-3 victory

Chelsea took a massive stride towards the title thanks to a moment of pure magic from Pedro and late goals from Gary Cahill and Willian.

With the clock ticking down and the Premier League leaders starting to look decidedly nervous about their lead bring stripped to the bare bone, the Spaniard stepped up with a breath-taking, curling finish from the edge of the box.

Cahill scrambled home a second and substitute Willian netted a third, surely confirming the London club as Champions' elect now, because they have a big enough buffer at the top of the table to withstand anything Spurs can throw at them. Yet they were made to sweat by a young Everton side who showed a quality of their own, and created several chances of their own, that on another day would have blown the title race wide open. The home side also had a good shout for a penalty when Enner Valencia appeared to be pulled back in the box by Cesar Azpilicueta, and Diego Costa may also have been shown a red card when he lifted his foot after sliding into Blues keeper Maarten Stekelenburg. But in the end, that quality of of Pedro - backed by the once again excellent Eden Hazard - was enough to all but put Chelsea's name on the Premier League trophy, with victory in their hardest game remaining of the season.

The secret to Chelsea's success this season is simple: they are devastating breaking forward. Even without reaching their real attacking heights at Goodison, there was a break-taking pace and intent to their counter-play which had Everton struggling for oxygen at times. Pedro and Hazard are virtually unstoppable at pace, and it is a weapon few sides have an answer to. They do have weaknesses though, which Everton were aware enough to exploit. The three man back line is amongst the more mobile in the Premier League, but when Lukaku and Calvert-Lewin had space to spin, there was constant danger, which lead to an exciting and surprisingly open contest.

For all Chelsea's class, it was refreshing to see Everton take them on, which such a young, vibrant promising team of their own. They are of course not at the same level as their aristocratic visitors, but they really do have a cracking young team, with Holgate, Davies, Barkley, Calvert-Lewin and the still 23-year-old Lukaku.
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