Chelsea 4-3 Brighton: João Pedro Shines as Blues Survive Seagulls Comeback

Chelsea survived a second-half scare to beat Brighton at home.

A second-half comeback almost salvaged a point for Brighton away to Chelsea.

The home side led 3–0 after 32 minutes but were pegged back by a strike from Malick Yalcouy and a João Pedro own goal.

Cole Palmer stretched his side’s lead to two goals late on, before a consolation goal from Brighton’s Pascal Groß.

New-Look Chelsea Impress Going Forward

Xabi Alonso’s side looked impressive in front of goal in their opening game of the Premier League season against neighbours Fulham on Monday.

That 3–2 win was the first time Chelsea had scored three goals in a league game since a 4–1 win away at Aston Villa in March.

Alonso will be encouraged by the fact his side repeated the feat today, as well as the contributions of each of his front three.

After Romeo Lavia had pounced on an error from Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen to give Chelsea the lead, Pedro Neto doubled the advantage when he was first to reach Morgan Rogers’ pull-back ten minutes later.

Brazilian striker João Pedro joined him on the scoresheet after 32 minutes when he slotted left wing-back Jorrel Hato’s shot past Verbruggen to leave Chelsea with a three-goal lead.

Even when Brighton came back into the game, Chelsea continued to carry an attacking threat.

Rogers had a long-range effort saved early in the second half before teeing up Palmer in the 58th minute, with the score at 3–1.

Palmer made amends for his miss when he ran into space in the 74th minute before cutting inside and finishing with his left foot to double Chelsea’s lead.

Seagulls Exploit Chelsea Weaknesses

Despite the final result, Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler can be proud of the character his side showed when 3–0 down.

Brighton began the game by attacking down their left-hand side, hoping to exploit Neto’s defensive frailties.

Neto has played as a winger for most of his career but has been used as a right wing-back by Xabi Alonso.

A switch to focusing on the right-hand side after Chelsea’s third goal helped Brighton get back into the game, however.

Yalcouy reacted first to a loose ball after Emiliano Martínez, making his debut in goal for Chelsea, saved from Charalampos Kostoulas.

The Seagulls moved within a goal of their hosts when João Pedro deflected Groß’ cross into his own goal, with just under half an hour left to play.

Chelsea tried to move to a more defensive setup in the second half, choosing to press in a 4-4-2 formation, with Rogers and Hato dropping back from their positions in the original 3-4-3 formation.

In the first half, they had pressed in a 4-2-4 formation, with Neto pressing high with the front three and Rogers and Palmer putting pressure on Brighton’s centre-back duo of Lewis Dunk and Luka Vuskovic.

Brighton had multiple chances to level the game late on, with right winger Diego Gomez hitting the side-netting and Martínez producing a good save to deny Olivier Boscagli.

The Seagulls looked slightly deflated after Palmer’s goal, with Chelsea making multiple changes with the aim of improving their midfield’s solidity.

Chelsea fans will be concerned by a late injury to central midfielder Moisés Caicedo, who had only just returned to the side after missing the game against Fulham.

Brighton’s third goal came too late to spark a comeback but did expose Chelsea’s weaknesses when defending corners and provided Groß with a deserved goal.

Player of the Match: João Pedro

Chelsea’s number nine was a constant threat to Brighton’s back line, regularly occupying both centre-backs and creating space for the creative duo of Rogers and Palmer.

He was composed in front of goal when he connected with Hato’s cross, despite having missed a similar effort minutes earlier, and produced an intelligent flick to set up Palmer for Chelsea’s fourth.

Pedro coped well with a lot of heckling from his former club’s travelling fans and performed well today while being watched from the stands by Brazil boss and former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti.

What’s Next?

Chelsea travel to the Emirates next Sunday for a London derby against champions Arsenal.

The Blues will then host Leeds in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday, September 9, and Hull in the Premier League on Saturday, September 12.

Brighton, meanwhile, continue their Premier League campaign at home to Leeds next Saturday before travelling to Coventry on Sunday, September 13.