By our Reporter
Chelsea maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season with a 4-3 victory over Brighton in an entertaining encounter at Stamford Bridge.
Romeo Lavia scored his first goal for Chelsea, while Pedro Neto, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer were also on target as Xabi Alonso’s side held off a late Brighton comeback to secure their second win of the campaign.
Chelsea took the lead after just four minutes when Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen fumbled after Mats Wieffer had blocked Joao Pedro’s header from a corner on the goalline, allowing Lavia to tap into an empty net.
The hosts doubled their advantage 10 minutes later when Morgan Rogers beat Brighton’s record signing Luka Vuskovic on the left before crossing for Neto, who got ahead of Ferdi Kadioglu to score.
Chelsea added a third in the 32nd minute as left wing-back Jorrel Hato beat Wieffer for pace and found Joao Pedro, who finished against his former club.
Brighton responded before half-time when Chelsea debutant Emiliano Martinez came off his line to deny Charalampos Kostoulas, but Malick Yalcouye reacted quickly to the rebound and volleyed home.
The visitors continued to press after the restart and reduced the deficit further in the 63rd minute when Yalcouye played in Pascal Gross, whose effort took a major deflection off Joao Pedro before beating Martinez.
Palmer restored Chelsea’s two-goal advantage in the 74th minute with an excellent individual finish, curling the ball beyond Verbruggen from outside the box.
Brighton refused to give up and scored a third almost with the final action of the match when Gross headed past Martinez, but Fabian Hurzeler’s side could not find an equaliser as Chelsea held on.
Alonso handed Martinez his Chelsea debut less than four hours after the club confirmed his £7.5m move. The Argentine, who turns 34 next week, had fallen out of favour at Aston Villa following a failed move to Juventus and the emergence of Japan’s Zion Suzuki as Unai Emery’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Martinez received strong support from the Stamford Bridge crowd and produced an assured display, although he was unfortunate to concede two of Brighton’s three goals. His save from Kostoulas led to Yalcouye’s first goal, while Joao Pedro’s deflection also left him with little chance.
His best moment came shortly before Brighton’s second goal when he made a sharp diving save from Diego Gomez. He also denied Olivier Boscagli and prevented Brighton from scoring a fourth that would have levelled the match.
Brighton had entered the game with confidence after their 4-0 victory over Aston Villa on the opening weekend, but their defence struggled to contain Chelsea’s attacking threat in the first half. Yalcouye was one of their standout performers, contributing to both of Brighton’s first two goals.
Chelsea’s victory leaves Alonso’s side with a perfect start to the new Premier League campaign, while Brighton will take encouragement from their second-half display. Chelsea’s next league test will come against champions Arsenal on Sunday, 6 September.
