Roberto Martinez hails Steven Naismith

Roberto Martinez

Everton boss Roberto Martinez says he is "incredibly impressed and proud" of hat-trick hero Steven Naismith after his side's 3-1 win over Chelsea at Goodison Park.

Roberto Martinez hailed hat-trick hero Steven Naismith  after he stepped off the bench to inspire the Toffees’ 3-1 win over Chelsea at Goodison Park.

The Scot was introduced as a ninth-minute substitute after Muhamed Besic was forced off with a hamstring complaint.

And he wasted no time in getting into the thick of the action, netting his first goal with a glancing header past a helpless Asmir Begovic on 17 minutes.

He notched a second five minutes later with an emphatic left-footed drive from distance, before completing the perfect treble by slotting past Begovic from a tight angle with eight minutes remaining.

“Steven's performance typified the effort and the character that we have at Everton,” Martinez told the media after the game.

“He hasn't been in the starting XI and all he did was focus and be ready to take his moment and the moment that that arrived he's put things in place that have really made a difference.

“To score a perfect hat-trick against the current champions, I think that shows you a lot and I think he's the type of example that we want at Everton to the younger players, to show them that you need to be ready and you need to prepare yourself so that when you get your opportunity on the pitch you can take it. It was a real joy to see Steven enjoying that sort of performance.”

The Blues boss also praised a ‘complete’ team performance as his side registered their first home win of the campaign.

On top of that, Everton restricted the reigning Premier League champions to just two shots on target, a stat that delighted Martinez.

“We have a strong squad but the attitude is everything,” he added. “Sometimes you play against the champions and you can beat them through lucky breaks after weathering the storm, but that wasn’t the case.

“For 90 minutes we restricted them to two shots on target – one a terrific strike from Nemanja Matic from long range for their goal and the other was a header from Radamael Falcao.

“We kept the ball well when we had too, we scored three goals from open play against probably the most defensive set-up that Chelsea had this season. We looked dynamic and strong going forward and the difference was the second-half performance.”

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