Beto reborn - Could written-off striker inspire Everton to the Champions League?

Beto could have been forgiven, earlier in his Everton career, for abandoning hope that he'd ever turn things around with the Toffees and become the talisman that his talent had suggested he could become.

Certainly, earlier in the season, head coach David Moyes had become so exasperated with his misfiring Guinea-Bissau frontman, that he publicly criticised the 28-year-old after the August draw with Manchester United.

"I've been a bit disappointed with Beto and I've told him," Moyes said at the time. "We're needing a bit more and he can do more. He has done more."

Up to that point, Moyes had been a cheerleader for the powerful forward, having finally managed to get a tune out of the striker following his struggles under previous manager Sean Dyche.

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Beto ended last season with eight league goals, seven of which came after Moyes had been installed as Everton head coach in January.

He hasn't kicked on as planned this season however, failing to build on his momentum over the second half of last term, and hitting just one league goal across the first six months of the 2025-26 season.

While Toffees fans were onboard with Beto's work rate, endeavour and commitment to the cause, there were increasingly vocal criticisms of his first touch and finishing instincts, as the striker delivered a consistent flurry of full-hearted but utterly ineffectual displays.

There had been an upturn recently -- three goals in nine league outings since the turn of the year -- but relatively little to suggest that Beto could be the talisman Everton need to ensure that a historic first season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium becomes a truly unforgettable campaign.

That was until this weekend, when the frontman delivered the best performance of his Everton career to put Chelsea to the sword and boost the Toffees' hopes of an unlikely Champions League qualification.

Beto nearly set the tone early on when he almost capitalised on some nervy footwork from Robert Sánchez, only for the Spaniard just to smuggle the ball clear before the attacker could add his fifth of the season.

He didn't need to wait long to open his account, outpacing Wesley Fofana to meet a fine through ball from James Garner ahead of Sanchez, before opening his body and calmly lifting the ball ahead of the sluggish Spain stopper.

This was not the finish of a forward who had only scored four in the league to this point, with Beto demonstrating impressive presence of mind and composure to beat the advancing Sanchez.

After a slow start, Chelsea had their chances, with Jordan Pickford looking far sharper than his opposite number to keep the visitors at bay, but it was Beto who added a second after fine work from Idrissa Gana Gueye in the 62nd minute.

The Senegal midfielder -- making his first appearance after the Teranga Lions were stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title following a CAF ruling last week -- tore in between Enzo Fernández and Marc Cucurella to latch onto an Andrey Santos pass, tore into the Chelsea half, and picked out Beto entering the visitors' box.

The striker's finish was again immaculate, with the West African meeting his fine forward ball with a cool first-time finish between Sanchez's legs to heap further woe on Leroy Rosenior and his beleaguered Pensioners.

Everton weren't done, and neither was their rampant forward, with Beto demonstrating his physical and aerial prowess to leap above Fofana and meet a long Pickford punt forward.

Beto flicked the ball on to the scintillating Iliman Ndiaye -- another Senegal international -- and the playmaker flummoxed Moisés Caicedo with his footwork before slamming home beyond Sanchez.

Moyes claimed it was Everton's best performance yet at their new home, and despite only enjoying 35 percent of possession during the course of the contest, registered their biggest win against Chelsea since 1987.

It was also their joint biggest win at the Hill Dickson Stadium, and served as a major boost in the club's push for a European place.

With seven matches to play, they're in eighth, only two behind Chelsea in sixth, and three off city rivals Liverpool, who currently occupy the fifth (likely) Champions League berth.

Beto is proving increasingly influential as the Blues eye a return to Europe for the first time since 2017-18, and a first sniff of the UCL since 2005, during Moyes's first tenure at the club.

For the striker, it represents his own personal high with the Toffees, the first time he's had a hand in three goals in a single fixture for the club, while also appearing to further cement his place as the club's first-choice frontman after seeing off the challenge of Guinea's Thierno Barry.

"It's very difficult for anybody, footballers can lose confidence when their form isn't so good, it could be a centre-forward, it could be a centre-half or goalkeepers, they all need to have confidence to play well," Moyes said earlier in the season of Beto and Barry, who's only scored six himself so far this term.

"Centre-forwards are the ones that thrive on the feeling of getting the goals," the Scot added. "So all you can ever do is keep putting them in the right positions and hopefully they'll get the goals."

One performance doesn't immediately rewrite Beto's Everton career nor completely recalibrate his trajectory on Merseyside.

However, given the importance of confidence and momentum to a striker's form, as highlighted by Moyes, he now has the best opportunity of his time at the club to prove that he isn't a €30 million flop.

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