Chelsea continued their perfect start to the Premier League under Xabi Alonso as they beat Brighton and Hove Albion 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge.
Alonso has presided over two successive wins this season and one in the League Cup since taking charge of the Blues.
Romeo Lavia opened the scoring with his first Chelsea goal since signing from Southampton in 2023.
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His strike came early, just as Chelsea had done against Fulham with a 31-second opener, they produced another blistering beginning to surge ahead versus Brighton.
Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and defender Mats Wieffer made a complete hash of clearing a fourth-minute corner off the line, and the ball fell nicely for Lavia to poke home from close range.
Pedro Neto doubled the Blues’ lead after Morgan Rogers burst past Luka Vuskovic into the Brighton penalty area and cut the ball back for Neto to guide a deft finish past Verbruggen from close range for his first league goal since December.
Joao Pedro, after missing a couple of chances in the first half, added the third as he got on the scoresheet against his former club in the 32nd minute.
Jorrel Hato picked out Pedro, and he finished clinically from six yards before cheekily celebrating with a thumbs-down gesture in front of the Brighton fans who had been jeering him.
That was before Brighton’s Malick Yalcouye got one back late in a frenzied first half, as Chelsea’s hopes of a first league clean sheet since January were ruined in the 35th minute when Yalcouye’s fierce volley whistled in off the post after Martinez’s initial save rebounded to the midfielder.
Brighton closed the gap even further in the 63rd minute as Chelsea started to wobble. Gross’s shot from an acute angle took a hefty deflection off Pedro and looped over the wrong-footed Martinez.
Palmer eased Alonso’s nerves in the 74th minute with a fine finish from the edge of the area.
Gross struck with a looping header in stoppage time, but Chelsea had done just enough to win the goal-fest.
Next up for Alonso’s team is a trip to face Premier League champions Arsenal on September 6 in a thrilling London derby.
Having dispatched Fulham, Luton and Brighton, it will be the first major test for the former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen boss as he tries to revitalise a club that finished a dismal 10th last season.