Cole Palmer showed his importance to Chelsea as the England international found the net to help the Blues put a difficult run of form behind them with a 2-0 victory over Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Palmer was left out of the squad for the defeat against Atalanta in midweek as he continues to manage a groin injury, but he was fit enough to start against David Moyes’ in-form Everton, and he impacted the game early on his first Stamford Bridge start in almost four months.

Malo Gusto’s incisive pass on 21 minutes split Everton wide open and Palmer was the beneficiary, firing home powerfully past Jordan Pickford to give Chelsea the lead.

“We said many times with Cole [Palmer] we are a better team,” Blues boss Enzo Maresca said. “Unfortunately he was out for many games for us, but now he’s back and for sure he will help us.”

The goal was just the tonic for Chelsea, who were without a win in their last three Premier League games as their season was threatening to derail ahead of the Christmas period, but Maresca’s side were clinical against Everton, whose last win at Chelsea came in 1994.

After a really good spell for Everton which saw James Tarkowski head wide and Jack Grealish denied by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez from a tight angle, Gusto converted a sharp counter-attack from the hosts to put them firmly in the ascendancy going into the break.

Chelsea’s dominance continued after the break but Maresca wasn’t willing to take any chances with Palmer’s fitness, taking him off just before the hour mark with his job done.

Once again, Everton, who had the chance to go above Chelsea with a win, did have chances. Grealish missed a golden opportunity to bring Everton back into the game with a shot on the slide that sailed across goal and wide before Reece James was denied from a free-kick by a fine save from Pickford.

The final chance was Everton’s, Iliman Ndiaye rolling the ball against the post with Robert Sanchez beaten, but Chelsea, with the first-half goals from the returning Palmer and Gusto, had done enough to get back to winning ways and up to fourth in the Premier League table, while David Moyes’ wait for a win at Stamford Bridge goes on.

After four winless matches, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca was delighted with the response from his side against in-form Everton.

He told Sky Sports: “I’m happy. It’s important to win games after the two or three we didn’t win. It’s important for the players. We are happy.

“The reaction was good. The players want to win every game. Sometimes we struggle a little bit more, sometimes we are able to win the game. In this moment it was very important for the players to win the game.

“We missed chances. You have to be clinical.

“The game is always open. But overall, I’m happy with the performance.”