Jorginho's penalty was the difference as the Blues beat the Toffees in the opening game of the season.
It was one of the established stars who settled the game when Jorginho scored from the penalty spot in the first half.
After the sale of Richarlison and the injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the Toffees were woefully short of quality and threat in attack.
The cause was not helped by a serious injury to defender Ben Godfrey, who was taken off on a stretcher following a challenge on Kai Havertz and was later confirmed to have fractured his leg.
As they made it a winning start, they were able to give a debut to Cucurella, the defender signed from Seagulls in a deal that could eventually be worth over $60 million.
After a difficult summer, manager Tuchel will be happy to start the season with a victory.
There were flashes of what he will bring, as well as the ease with which he was able to get into the top flight.
The game was over because the visiting defence had too much knowledge and the home team didn't have the skills to win it.
Cucurella's debut was only noteworthy for a yellow card after he kicked the ball away in the dying moments of the game.
Even though this still represents a very strong squad, they will be looking to bring in more new faces before the end of the transfer window.
It's all about the result on the opening day and achieving it by any means possible, a mission which was accomplished by the team.
As they started the season with a defeat, they looked exactly what they were as they were not short on effort or enthusiasm.
They made themselves hostages to fortune when they failed to replace Richarlison after his move to Spurs, and paid the price when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury.
It was a flaw that was exposed as Anthony Gordon was given the thankless task of an unaccustomed role up front.
This needs to be addressed as a matter of priority while also looking to bring in other new faces.
In the first half, Lille's Amadou Onana received a warm reception in the directors' box before completing his move to Paris St-Germain.
With every minute that passed in this disappointing defeat, the need for a strikers was obvious.
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