Chelsea beat Brighton in seven-goal thriller | OneFootball

Chelsea maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Brighton at Stamford Bridge in Xabi Alonso's first home league game in charge.

The hosts made a flying start when Romeo Lavia opened the scoring after Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen failed to deal with a loose ball following a corner.

Chelsea doubled their advantage 10 minutes later. Morgan Rogers did brilliantly down the left before finding Pedro Neto, who poked the ball beyond Verbruggen.

Joao Pedro then added a third against his former club in the 32nd minute, finishing after an excellent run and pass from Jorrel Hato.

Fabian Hürzeler's side pulled one back before half-time when Malick Yalcouye reacted quickest after Emi Martinez had denied Charalampos Kostoulas.

The visitors continued to threaten after the break and got a second when Pascal Gross’ effort took a huge deflection off Joao Pedro and wrong-footed Martinez.

Chelsea restored their two-goal lead through Cole Palmer, who curled a superb effort into the corner from outside the box.

Gross headed Brighton’s third deep into stoppage time, setting up a tense finale, but Chelsea held on to secure maximum points.

The victory gives Alonso two wins from two in the Premier League, while Brighton were left to rue a slow start and costly defensive mistakes.

Incidents: The story of the match

Chelsea Official Line-ups:

Emiliano Martínez, Malo Gusto, Levi Colwill, Maxence Lacroix, Wesley Fofana, Jorrel Hato, Roméo Lavia, Cole Palmer, João Pedro, Morgan Rogers, Pedro Neto

Brighton & Hove Albion Official Line-ups:

Bart Verbruggen, Lewis Dunk, Luka Vuskovic, Olivier Boscagli, Ferdi Kadioglu, Maxim De Cuyper, Mats Wieffer, Pascal Gross, Malick Yalcouyé, Diego Gómez, Charalampos Kostoulas

1':

The match begins

Chelsea leads Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0. Roméo Lavia scores for Chelsea with a right-footed shot from very close range into the bottom left corner after a corner kick.

4':

GOAL Chelsea: Roméo Lavia (Chelsea) scores!

Roméo Lavia scores goal number 1 in the competition (2 matches)

Chelsea lead 2-0 against Brighton and Hove Albion. Pedro Neto scores for Chelsea with a right-footed shot from the center of the box, assisted by Morgan Rogers.

14':

GOAL Chelsea: Pedro Neto (Chelsea) scores!

Pedro Neto scores goal number 1 in the competition (2 matches) Pedro Neto scores goal number 21 for his team (107 matches)

Chelsea lead 3-0 against Brighton and Hove Albion. João Pedro scores with a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner, assisted by Jorrel Hato after a fast break.

32':

GOAL Chelsea: João Pedro (Chelsea) scores!

João Pedro scores goal number 2 in the competition (2 matches)

Malick Yalcouyé scores for Brighton and Hove Albion with a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the top left corner. The score is now Chelsea 3, Brighton and Hove Albion 1.

35':

GOAL Brighton & Hove Albion: Malick Yalcouyé (Brighton & Hove Albion) scores!

Malick Yalcouyé scores goal number 1 in the competition (2 matches)

63':

GOAL Chelsea: João Pedro (Chelsea) socres an own goal!

Chelsea lead 4-2 against Brighton and Hove Albion. Cole Palmer scores for Chelsea with a left-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner, assisted by João Pedro.

74':

GOAL Chelsea: Cole Palmer (Chelsea) scores!

Cole Palmer scores goal number 2 in the competition (2 matches) Cole Palmer scores goal number 57 for his team (135 matches)

Pascal Groß scores for Brighton and Hove Albion with a header from the center of the box into the bottom left corner. The score is now Chelsea 4, Brighton and Hove Albion 3.

90 +6':

GOAL Brighton & Hove Albion: Pascal Gross (Brighton & Hove Albion) scores!

Pascal Gross scores goal number 1 in the competition (2 matches)

998':

The referee whistles for the end of the match