Iconic Everton Performances: Steven Naismith vs Chelsea 2015 | OneFootball

Steven Naismith was into his fourth year with the Toffees when he arguably produced the best performance of his career.

Everton had made an average start to the 2015/16 campaign, picking up two wins, two draws and one defeat from their opening five matches across all competitions.

Next up was Everton’s third home game of the season against champions Chelsea, with the Toffees still searching for their first victory at Goodison Park.

Chelsea had made a poor start to their title defence, so there was a feeling of optimism amongst the Evertonians as they made their way into the stadium.

Naismith wasn’t in the starting lineup, but an injury to Mo Besic after just nine minutes handed the Scottish international a chance to make his mark on the game, which he most certainly did.

Good work from Phil Jagielka, winning the ball back in his own penalty area from Diego Costa, saw the Blues build up one of their typical Roberto Martinez pass-heavy attacks.

Naismith received the ball in a central position outside of the Chelsea penalty area and played the ball out to the left for Brendon Gallaway. The left-back whipped in a sweet cross, which Naismith got his head on to score from close range.

Naismith had scored the winner against Chelsea two years earlier, and found himself on the scoresheet again against a side fast becoming a favoured opponent.

The former Rangers forward soon put the Toffees 2-0 up. Five minutes on from his headed opener, a sweet left-footed effort evaded the dive of Asmir Begovic to find the far corner. After good work from Romelu Lukaku and Aruna Kone down the right-hand side, the ball worked its way to Ross Barkley, who laid the ball on to Naismith. He took one touch to steady himself before firing his effort into the bottom right corner.

Chelsea pulled a goal back before the break, which unsettled the crowd, but they needn’t have worried. More good work down Chelsea’s left-hand side in the second half from Aaron Lennon and Barkley allowed the England midfielder to play a through ball to Naismith.

The Scot, on a hat-trick, faced a tight angle as he bore down on the Chelsea goal. That didn’t stop him from shooting with his right foot this time, completing a perfect hat-trick and securing all three points for Everton.

What a performance from Naismith, especially after coming on as an early substitute. The Scottish forward became just the sixth player to score a hat-trick after coming on as a substitute in the Premier League, and only the fifth player to score a hat-trick against Chelsea.

This would turn out to be Naismith’s final season with the Toffees before joining Norwich City in January. The Scot only featured in 10 league games that season, and all three of his goals arrived on that famous day against Chelsea.

Though never a prolific scorer during his time at Everton (18 league goals in 103 games), Naismith is remembered fondly by Evertonians. Nobody will ever forget that performance against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2015.