Everton manager David Moyes believes Beto should have done better in the build-up to Chelsea’s winning goal. The Blues suffered a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off with Nicolas Jackson’s first-half strike proving the difference between the sides.

The goal came after Beto was dispossessed on the halfway line, Trevoh Chalobah stepping in to steal the ball from the striker after Jordan Pickford fired a goal kick in his direction. The defender then supplied Enzo Fernandez, who was able to find Jackson in space after Blues centre backs Jarrad Branthwaite and Jake O’Brien had split in preparation for a short goal-kick.

Speaking after the match, Moyes pointed to the loss of the ball to Chalobah as pivotal in the defining moment in the game.

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“He [Beto] has to retain the ball, simple as that, he has to retain the ball. And because of that it probably cost us a goal – we were open at that moment when you do that.

“But you’re seeing that type of football and we’re trying to improve, we’re try to get better at retaining possession, we’re trying to get better at passing it, and that moment just didn’t quite work.”

Moyes conceded there were times when he feared Chelsea would run away with the game, such was their early dominance.

But he did take positives from his players hanging in to the point where they had chances to snatch a late equaliser – particularly after the impact of substitutes like Carlos Alcaraz and Dwight McNeil.

Moyes said: “First half I didn’t think we played well. I thought the substitutes made a big difference to us.

“We stayed in the game, we didn’t get out of the game. There was a wee period in the first half I thought we could have been in trouble.

“We just didn’t open the game very well at all, but I thought that in the second half, we were much, much better.”

On the reasons for that slow start, the Blues boss said: “[It was] probably Chelsea. Chelsea were fast, intense, quick, they have got really good players as we all know.

“That was probably the biggest reason, it was more of them than it was to do with us.”