Chelsea Edge Brighton Thriller

Chelsea survive Brighton fightback

Chelsea held off a late Brighton & Hove Albion comeback to win 4-3 at Stamford Bridge and maintain a perfect start to the Premier League season.

Roméo Lavia opened the scoring after four minutes, registering his first Chelsea goal. The midfielder finished after Brighton failed to deal with an early Chelsea corner.

Pedro Neto extended the lead eight minutes later, finishing from Morgan Rogers’ pass after the England international drove into the penalty area. João Pedro added a third in the 32nd minute after Jorrel Hato advanced from deep and supplied the forward.

Brighton respond before break

Brighton reduced the deficit before half-time through Malick Yalcouyé. The midfielder converted after Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez had made an initial save from Diego Gómez.

The visitors continued to create openings after the interval. Their second goal came when Pascal Groß’s cross was deflected into Chelsea’s net by João Pedro, reducing the deficit to 3-2.

Palmer restores cushion

Chelsea restored their two-goal lead with 16 minutes remaining. Cole Palmer received a lay-off from João Pedro, moved forward and curled a 20-yard finish beyond Bart Verbruggen.

Brighton scored again in stoppage time when Groß headed home, but Chelsea saw out the remaining moments to claim the points.

Martínez began in goal after his signing was confirmed on matchday, while Chelsea made seven changes from the side that started the Carabao Cup win over Luton Town. Moisés Caicedo made his first appearance of the season as a second-half substitute.