Chelsea win seven-goal thriller to maintain 100% Premier League start
SEVEN UP: Chelsea's Joao Pedro scores their side's third goal in a Premier League win full of goals and drama at Stamford Bridge. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire.
IT may be too early to predict a genuine title challenge from Chelsea, but under Xavi Alonso the Blues are certainly going to be fun to watch this season.
Seven goals scored in two Premier League games and five conceded are a far cry from the successful Jose Mourinho side that conceded just 15 in a whole campaign in 2004/05, but this front-footed attacking display full of pace and invention certainly has the tick of approval from Chelsea fans who'd grown frustrated with the diet of slow, patient football adopted by the likes Enzo Mareseca, Liam Rosenior and Graham Potter.
A large flag unfurled before the game in the Spaniard's honour was not something experienced by any of his recent predecessors and after forking out over a billion pounds on players and failed managerial appointments in the last four years, have Chelsea finally stumbled on the right ingredients for first title in a decade?
On the evidence of some of the porous defending that allowed Brighton back into the game after the hosts had raced into 3-0 lead inside the opening half-an-hour through Romeo Lavia, Pedro Neto and Joao Pedro, it would take a brave man to predict glory in May.
But with the attacking weapons at Alonso's disposal they will cause problems for any side particularly if Cole Palmer, who scored a brilliant fourth goal to kill off the game after Brighton had fought back to 3-2, can stay fit.
New signing Emi Martinez, who became the eighth transaction between Chelsea and Aston Villa in the last four years, was thrown straight into the side after the paperwork for his £7.5million move was completed on Friday in time for selection.
The arrival of the 33-year-old Argentina World Cup winner almost certainly signals the end for ex-Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez, who wasn't even on the bench following another error-strewn display in the 3-2 win against Fulham last Monday.
Lavia, preferred in midfield to the wantaway Enzo Fernandez, opened the scoring inside five minutes when he tapped in from close range before Neto finished smartly following a purposeful run from Morgan Rogers.
Pedro squandered a glorious chance to add a third when he side-footed from close range after Neto put the ball on a plate for the Brazilian.
The Brazilian was booed throughout by the fans who once serenaded him, but then goaded the Brighton supporters behind the goal when he applied a neat finish after a buccaneering run from deep inside his own half from Jarrel Hato.
Brighton, who opened their season last week with a 4-0 thumping of Aston Villa and had won the last three matches between these sides, pulled a goal back before halftime through Malick Yalcouye on his full debut.
The 20-year-old Malian hit a cracking finish off the post after some poor defending by the hosts and Diego Gomez should have added a second just after the restart but managed to head wide when unmarked from a Pascal Gross free-kick.
Sensing unease in Chelsea's defence, Brighton continued to push for a second goal and it arrived once again through the invention of the impressive Yalcouye whose shot was deflected past Martinez by the unlucky Pedro.
It is now 18 top-flight games since Chelsea last kept a clean sheet - their longest run since 1961 - but any worries of an unlikely comeback by the Seagulls were eased by Palmer's emphatic run and finish before Pascal Gross added some extra gloss to the scoreline with a looping header deep into stoppage time.
: Martinez, Wesley Fofana (James 68) , Lacroix, Colwill ( Chavarria 71) , Gusto, Palmer, Lavia (Caicedo 68, Barco 81), Hato, Pedro Neto (Acheampong 68), Rogers, Joao Pedro.
: Verbruggen, Wieffer (Costinha 80) , Vuskovic, Dunk, Boscagli, Gross, Kadioglu, Gomez, Yalcouye (Osman 84), De Cuyper, Kostoulas (David 80)
: Michael Oliver
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