Chelsea Survive Brighton Fightback To Maintain Alonso’s Perfect Start

Chelsea survived a dramatic second-half fightback from Brighton & Hove Albion to secure a thrilling 4-3 victory at Stamford Bridge and maintain their perfect league record under new manager Xabi Alonso.

The Blues raced into a three-goal lead inside 32 minutes before Brighton fought back to 3-2, only for Cole Palmer’s superb strike to restore Chelsea’s two-goal advantage. Pascal Gross scored his second goal deep into stoppage time, but Brighton had no time to find an equaliser as Chelsea held on for a fourth consecutive league victory.

Romeo Lavia opened the scoring inside four minutes after a disastrous error from Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

Mats Wieffer had initially produced a goalline block to deny Joao Pedro’s header from a corner, but Verbruggen then fumbled the loose ball, allowing Lavia to tap into an empty net for his first Chelsea goal.

Chelsea doubled their advantage in the 14th minute when Pedro Neto finished from close range.

Morgan Rogers powered past Brighton’s record signing Luka Vuskovic down the left before delivering a precise cross, with Neto getting ahead of Ferdi Kadioglu to prod the ball beyond Verbruggen.

The hosts appeared to be cruising when Jorrel Hato added a third in the 32nd minute.

The left wing-back burst beyond Wieffer to reach the byline before cutting the ball back for Joao Pedro, who calmly finished against his former club to put Chelsea 3-0 ahead.

Brighton, however, responded before half-time. Chelsea debutant goalkeeper Emi Martinez rushed from his goal to deny Charalampos Kostoulas, but the rebound fell to Malick Yalcouye, who volleyed into the unguarded net to make it 3-1.

The Seagulls returned after the interval with greater intensity and were rewarded in the 63rd minute.

Yalcouye turned provider by finding Pascal Gross, whose effort took a decisive deflection off Joao Pedro and wrong-footed Martinez before finding the corner to reduce Chelsea’s lead to 3-2.

With Brighton threatening an unlikely comeback, Palmer produced a moment of individual brilliance in the 74th minute.

The England forward collected the ball outside the box, shifted onto his left foot and curled a superb effort beyond Verbruggen to restore Chelsea’s two-goal cushion at 4-2.

Brighton continued to push and were rewarded again deep into stoppage time when Gross rose highest to head home a cross and score his second of the afternoon.

But the equaliser never came, with the final whistle following almost immediately to confirm Chelsea’s 4-3 victory.

The result extended Alonso’s flawless start in the league and gave Chelsea a fourth successive victory, although Brighton’s spirited fightback ensured the hosts had to endure a nervy finish after appearing to be in complete control.