Chelsea secured a dramatic 4–3 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge in Matchday 2 of the Premier League.
Xabi Alonso’s side started with intensity as Roméo Lavia opened the scoring in the fourth minute, before Pedro Neto and João Pedro added the second and third goals in the 14th and 32nd minutes.
Chelsea became only the second team in Premier League history to score within the opening four minutes of their first two matches of a single season, echoing Bolton Wanderers in 2002–03.
Malick Yalcouyé pulled one back for Brighton before halftime, followed by an own goal from João Pedro. However, Cole Palmer restored Chelsea’s two-goal cushion in the 74th minute, before Pascal Groß netted Brighton’s third in stoppage time.
João Pedro experienced an eventful outing against his former club by scoring, assisting, and netting an own goal—becoming the sixth player in Premier League history, and the first for Chelsea, to accomplish this stat line in a single match.
Son Heung-min was the previous player to reach the same mark, recording a goal, an assist, and an own goal during Tottenham’s clash against Manchester City in December 2023.
Xabi Alonso became the fourth manager to see his side score seven or more goals across his first two Premier League matches, joining Sir Bobby Robson, Michael Laudrup, and Marcelo Bielsa.
Despite a strong start featuring six points and seven goals scored, defensive concerns linger as Chelsea completed 18 consecutive Premier League matches without keeping a clean sheet.
Alonso maintains his strong start with Chelsea, taking maximum points from his opening two fixtures ahead of a derby against Arsenal on Sunday, September 6, at the Emirates Stadium (18:30 KSA).
