Chelsea held off a Brighton fightback to clinch a thrilling 4-3 victory and continue their winning start under manager Xabi Alonso. The Blues raced into a three-goal lead through Romeo Lavia, Pedro Neto and former Brighton forward Joao Pedro in a scintillating opening period at Stamford Bridge, but the visitors responded. Malick Yalcoule slammed home before the break to give them hope and they reduced the deficit to one goal when a Pascal Gross shot deflected off Joao Pedro and beyond Emiliano Martinez, who was making his debut following his £7.5m arrival from Aston Villa.
Brighton had further chances, with Diego Gomez going close and Martinez making some fine stops, but Cole Palmer found the bottom corner in superb style for Chelsea's fourth, meaning a Gross header in stoppage time was too little too late for the visitors. Chelsea were without Enzo Fernandez, who was left out of the squad for a second consecutive game amid interest from Manchester City, while Moises Caicedo had to come off injured soon after coming on for his first appearance of the season. But the victory continues a positive start under Alonso.
While the new Chelsea manager has issues to address defensively, their new-look attack proved too much for their opponent for the second game in a row following their 3-2 win over Fulham. While Joao Pedro and Palmer were on target for a second consecutive, record signing Morgan Rogers added an assist to his goal against the Cottagers when he crossed for Neto's strike. Brighton, meanwhile, showed impressive spirit after their nightmarish start to the game despite a lengthy list of injuries, with Yasin Ayari missing out along with forwards Georginio Rutter, Jack Hinshelwood, Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Brighton supporters made their feelings about Joao Pedro clear before the game had even started, greeting his name with cacophonous boos every time it was read out by the PA announcer. The hostility only seemed to make him more determined. The 24-year-old, clearly fresh after his inexplicable World Cup omission by Brazil, picked up where he left off against Fulham, tearing into Brighton right from the start of the game, running the channels, holding the ball up and dovetailing with team-mates.
"I think he's in the form of his life," said Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith. "I haven't seen him play better than he has in the first two games." Joao Pedro had his head in his hands when he dragged wide 25 minutes in but didn't have to wait long for his goal, finishing off a sensational counter-attack only a few minutes later and making the point of running over to the Brighton fans to celebrate. His unfortunate own goal was only a minor blot on his afternoon and he was unlucky not to score more.
He ranked top among Chelsea players for shots, touches in the opposition box, dribbles and fouls won and proved a constant menace to Brighton. His total of 13 duels won was the second highest by any player in a Premier League game so far this season and underlined the physical prowess that contributes to making him such a handful. Smith added: "People wondered if he was an out-and-out centre forward.
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