Credit: Imago

Richie Mills

Sun 22 March 2026 10:10, UK

Jack Grealish expressed his delight for Everton striker Beto after his brace against Chelsea.

Everton put in one of their best performances of the season with a commanding 3-0 victory over Chelsea at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday.

Beto got the ball rolling for the Toffees in the 33rd minute when he dinked a deft finish over the onrushing Robert Sanchez.

The 28-year-old then fired a shot through the legs of the Blues goalkeeper just after the hour mark, before Iliman Ndiaye’s curling effort sealed the win.

Now, injured loanee Grealish has saved special praise for often maligned forward Beto following his important double in Everton’s win over Chelsea.

Grealish lauds ‘hard working’ Beto

Beto has repeatedly come in for criticism from Everton fans since his £25.8million move from Udinese in 2023.

The 6ft 4in forward has chipped in with a number of important goals but a return of 22 in 105 games does not make for great reading.

However, the Guinea-Bissau international scored his fifth and sixth Premier League goals of the season with a commanding display against Liam Rosenior’s beleaguered side.

As this Sofascore graphic shows below, Beto was at his clinical best as Chelsea slumped to a fourth defeat in a row in all competitions.

Grealish, whose season was ended by a foot injury in January after joining on loan from Manchester City, may be aware of the stick that Beto has got this season.

Either way, he took to social media to laud the big man’s display against the west London outfit, with the winger providing an insight into the unseen work that Beto does at Finch Farm.

He wrote in an Instagram story: “So happy for this guy. One of the most hard working players I know. Gwarnnnnn [sic] Beto.”

Grealish added in a separate post: “That whole game was just a pleasure to watch! Unreal!”

Everton’s home form finally coming good

There was a great deal of excitement when Everton moved into their new, state-of-the-art home at Hill Dickinson Stadium last summer.

But some of that fervour dissipated following their Goodison Park exit as the Toffees struggled to pick up wins on home soil.

However, a 2-0 win over Burnley on 3 March secured them their first victory on their own patch since 6 December. Now, Everton have backed that up with another home win, this time against Chelsea.

Everton remain eighth in the Premier League but are now level on points with seventh-placed Brentford as their bid to secure European football next season gathers pace.

If David Moyes’ side finish seventh, that may be enough to secure them Conference League football next term. Everton have the fourth-best away record in the division but if they want to qualify for Europe, they cannot just rely on that.

A total of 13 other teams have picked up more points at home than Everton have this season but if they can build on this encouraging run, European football could be theirs.