EPL: Chelsea beat Brighton 4-3 to extend Alonso’s perfect start

Free-scoring Chelsea extended Xabi Alonso’s perfect start as manager with an eye-catching 4-3 win against Brighton on Sunday.

Alonso has presided over two successive wins in the Premier League and one in the League Cup since taking charge of the Blues.

Romeo Lavia opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge with his first Chelsea goal since signing from Southampton in 2023.

Pedro Neto doubled the Blues’ lead and Joao Pedro added the third before Brighton’s Malick Yalcouye got one back late in a frenzied first half.

Pedro’s own goal after the interval gave Chelsea a few anxious moments before Cole Palmer struck in the closing stages.

Pascal Gross netted in stoppage-time but it was too late to derail Chelsea.

Next up for Alonso’s team is a trip to face Premier League champions Arsenal on September 6.

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.

Alonso has already breathed new life into Chelsea’s attack, with nine goals in their first three games, but questions remain about a creaky defence that has been breached four times.

With the transfer window closing on Tuesday, it remains to be seen if Enzo Fernandez will be an option for Alonso when Chelsea meet Arsenal.

Fernandez was absent for a second successive game after the Argentina midfielder was linked with a move to Manchester City.

Emiliano Martinez made his Chelsea debut after completing his £7.5 million ($10 million) move from Villa just hours earlier.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper was signed to replace the error-prone Robert Sanchez after his latest dismal display in Monday’s 3-2 win at Fulham.

Underlining Chelsea’s recent obsession with signing youngsters, Martinez was the first 30 or over player to feature for them in a league game since 2024.

Cheeky Pedro

Chelsea took just 31 seconds to score against Fulham and they made another quick-fire start to move in front against 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.

Alonso had selected Neto instead of Reece James and the Portugal winger repaid that faith in the 14th minute.

Morgan Rogers burst past Luka Vuskovic into the Brighton penalty area and cut his pass back for Neto to guide a deft finish past Verbruggen from close-range for his first league goal since December.

Martinez made his first save, repelling Yalcouye’s strike, to raucous cheers from Chelsea fans delighted to no longer have to endure the hapless Sanchez.

Pedro 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.

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.

AFP