Chelsea survive Brighton scare to seal thrilling 4–3 victory at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea FC held their nerve in a dramatic seven-goal Premier League thriller on Sunday, defeating Brighton & Hove Albion 4–3 at Stamford Bridge to make it two wins from two league matches under manager Xabi Alonso.

Chelsea made a blistering start, taking the lead after just four minutes through Roméo Lavia, who capitalised on a defensive mistake. Pedro Neto doubled the advantage in the 14th minute before João Pedro made it 3–0 in the 32nd minute.

Brighton refused to collapse, however, with Malick Yalcouyé pulling one back three minutes later to give the visitors renewed hope before half-time.

The second half produced even more drama. João Pedro inadvertently turned the ball into his own net in the 63rd minute, cutting Chelsea’s advantage to 3–2 and setting up a tense final half-hour.

Chelsea restored their two-goal cushion in the 74th minute when Cole Palmer produced a superb strike from outside the box to make it 4–2.

Brighton mounted one final assault in stoppage time, with Pascal Groß scoring in the sixth minute of added time. But Chelsea held on through the closing moments to claim all three points.

The victory gives Chelsea a perfect start to the campaign, with six points from their opening two league matches. Brighton, meanwhile, have three points from their first two games.

The match also marked Emiliano Martínez’s Chelsea debut, with the Argentine goalkeeper unable to keep a clean sheet despite his side’s victory.

Chelsea’s attacking quality was again evident, but the late Brighton fightback will give Alonso plenty to consider defensively. The Blues created a commanding lead but were forced to withstand sustained pressure before finally securing the win.