Clinical first-half strikes from Tom Cannon and Rafael Garcia earned Everton Under-23s an impressive 2-0 victory over Chelsea at Goodison Park on Friday night.

Cannon put Everton in front with a typically emphatic finish on 32 minutes before Garcia’s pinpoint effort in stoppage time at the end of the opening period doubled the young Blues’ advantage.

Everton were the brighter side from the outset and had a golden chance to open the scoring when awarded a penalty on 12 minutes when Lewis Dobbin was tripped by Xavier Mbuyamba in the box.

Dobbin stepped up to take the kick but saw his attempt well saved by Chelsea stopper Lucas Bergström.

The Toffees were not to be denied, though, and made the breakthrough just after the half-hour mark when Cannon crashed home an unstoppable drive after being played in by Tyler Onyango’s clever backheel.

Everton continued to press and scored their second when Stanley Mills made a darting run into the area and found Garcia, who placed a precision shot into the far corner beyond Bergstrom.

Chelsea applied pressure as they strived to find a way back into the game after the break, with Everton keeper Harry Tyrer making fine saves from Xavier Simons and Bashir Humphreys.

Everton, meanwhile, came close to extending their advantage when Cannon’s powerful strike forced Bergstrom into an excellent stop.

There were to be no further goals at Goodison, however, as Everton saw out the victory to move up to 11th in the Premier League 2 table.