A near perfect evening in west London was capped off in style when young defender Alfie Gilchrist, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes since replacing Malo Gusto, smashed home the rebound from Ben Chilwell's saved shot to get his first senior goal in a Chelsea shirt.

That was just the icing on the cake as he completed the scoring in a 6-0 victory over Everton, with Cole Palmer already having got himself four goals, in addition to Nicolas Jackson's strike.

Having grown up supporting the Blues and risen through the ranks of our Academy after joining the club at Under-11s level, getting his name on the score sheet at the Bridge, especially on such a memorable occasion, was a moment which clearly meant a lot to Gilchrist.

‘I think the celebration speaks for itself,' he said after the match. 'It was a crazy moment for me. I’m over the moon and so happy to get my first goal for the club.

‘When I came on, the manager said to me: "same again, keep it simple", but I wanted to run forward and score!

‘It came across in slow motion and then it all happened so fast. I tried to make as good a connection as I could, and that’s what I did.

‘It was a crazy moment for me. I’m over the moon and so happy to get my first goal for this club.’

Of course, Gilchrist wasn't the only one feeling pride inside the Bridge. In addition to the 20-year-old's first goal, with Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher in the starting line-up, Cesare Casadei and Deivid Washington also coming off the bench, and teenagers Tyrique George and Kiano Dyer among the substitutes, it was a good night all around for those involved in the Chelsea Academy.

‘I feel it gives everyone hope and for the fans, seeing one of the Academy players come through, like Conor, Reece [James] and even the lads younger than me on the bench, it makes the Academy side of things really proud.

‘It makes me so proud to be out there with the boys. I’m trying not to smile when I’m on the pitch. I need to stay focused and carry on playing.’

Of course, the impact of Gilchrist and the rest of our Academy players has to be earned, especially with the team competing in a tight race for European qualification in the final two months of the season.

Last night's victory leaves the Blues just three points off sixth-placed Newcastle United in the Premier League table, with games in hand over all the teams above us.

Unsurprisingly given the scoreline, Alfie believes the performance against Everton can give the side a lift and set the tone as we attempt to close that gap during the coming weeks.

‘Seeing the boys out there battling, that’s how we need to be,' added Gilchrist. 'For me to come on and score, that topped it off.

‘We did great in all areas of the game. I thought we battled well, in particular, and we need to carry on like that.

‘It’s a big result for us and gives us confidence going into the following few games and the future. It was a good result for us yesterday.’

There are certainly some big matches approaching fast, with an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley up next on Saturday, before we travel across London to face Arsenal in the Premier League three days later.