Chelsea got back to winning ways with a routine 2-0 home win over bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United to ease the pressure on manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Despite being largely frustrated in the first half by the visitors, Chelsea struck twice in quick succession just after the interval through Cole Palmer (54) and then Nicolas Jackson (61) to dispel memories of losses at Everton and Man Utd in their previous two Premier League games.
As a result, Chelsea have moved up to 11th place in the table, while despite a spirited display, Chris Wilder’s side remain last.
Chelsea were looking to maintain their recent good home form against a Blades team boosted by victory over Brentford last time out, just their second win of their league campaign, and the visitors took that confidence with them into the match as they largely frustrated their much-changed hosts before half-time.
In fact, so dire was the first 45 minutes from the hosts that the Blues – who made five changes from defeat at Goodison Park – failed to manage a first-half shot inside the box in a home game for the first time since 2010, when records began, while registering an XG of 0.12 as Wilder’s game plan worked to perfection.
SkySports
