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In the fullness of time Chelsea’s surrender against Brighton & Hove Albion last April may come to be seen as the turning point. The humiliation accelerated Liam Rosenior’s demise and forced the Stamford Bridge hierarchy into a reckoning which has led to the appointment of Xabi Alonso, a shift in the transfer strategy, the JP Morgan front three and the end of Robert Sánchez’s time as the No 1 goalkeeper.
For now, though, the argument that Emiliano Martínez is the final piece in the jigsaw seems a touch premature. There are many enjoyable parts to Alonso’s rejigged Chelsea, especially when Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and João Pedro click in attack, but other problems remain and the early evidence suggests a title challenge will only be sustained if performances become less chaotic.
Alonso looked ready to erupt when Chelsea found themselves clinging on to their lead midway through the second half. His side had made a blistering start to this game, rattling three unanswered goals past a weakened Brighton, but the level dipped. Anxiety gripped Stamford Bridge for a while and although Palmer took over during the dying stages, cutting inside to make it 4-2 with a beautiful finish, there is a sense that Chelsea’s winning start to the Alonso era has been a bit too fun.
Conceding five goals in their first two league games is not good enough. Martínez played well but was denied a clean sheet on his debut after joining from Aston Villa for £7.5m. Brighton exposed shortcomings in the system and Alonso will want more control.
Chelsea have had varying degrees of success plundering talent from Brighton during the last four years. João Pedro goes down as a hit, Graham Potter a definite miss, while Sánchez is soon to be cast aside after his unconvincing performance against Fulham convinced Alonso it was time for a change in goal.
Sánchez was not even on the bench against his old side and there was a huge ovation for Martínez before kick-off. The Argentinian’s handling was commanding and something Brighton lacked when the focus fell on Fabian Hürzeler’s goalkeeper.
Chelsea led after four minutes. João Pedro flicked a corner goalwards and Mats Wieffer blocked on the line. The danger appeared to be over, only for Bart Verbruggen to scoop the ball away from his team-mate and into the path of Roméo Lavia, who punished the Brighton goalkeeper’s mistake by jabbing a low finish into the net.
It was a lovely moment for Lavia. It was four years to the day since the Belgian’s midfielder last goal, against Chelsea coincidentally enough, and he will hope his rotten luck with injuries is about to turn.
Lavia has had a good start to the season. His ability to start for the second consecutive league game was important given that Chelsea were a little light in midfield. Moisés Caicedo and Reece James were only fit enough to start as substitutes and Enzo Fernández was again not in the right frame of mind to play with a move to Manchester City on the cards, so Malo Gusto moved in from right wing-back to form a new partnership with Lavia.
Not that Chelsea’s selection issues came close to matching Brighton’s injury list. Jack Hinshelwood, Yasin Ayari, Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh were all unavailable and the visitors were shambolic without them at first.
Chelsea were merciless. Morgan Rogers continued his fine start after joining from Villa, creating the second goal with a powerful surge away from Luka Vuskovic in the 13th minute. Brighton were caught cold by a throw-in and Rogers crossed for Pedro Neto to score.
Linked with a move away this summer, Neto has been repurposed as a wing-back by Alonso and was bright. The Portugal international’s commitment forced another error from Brighton, who escaped when João Pedro shot wide.
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The away end jeered their old boy but João Pedro would not be denied. Soon Rogers produced a flick to send Jorrel Hato flying down the left, Wieffer trailing behind. All alone in the middle, he was ruthless this time.
Game over? Not quite. Brighton stayed honest and had hope before half-time, Malick Yalcouyé volleying in a debut goal after Martínez made a brave block from Charalampos Kostoulas.
There was a different feel in the second half. Palmer side-footed over from two yards and Chelsea wobbled. Diego Gómez sent a free header wide and had a shot saved by Martínez. Emboldened, Brighton pushed. They recycled possession from a corner and Yalcouyé released Pascal Gross, whose cross deflected in off João Pedro.
Gómez rattled another shot just wide and Alonso screamed at his substitutes to get ready. Caicedo, James and Josh Acheampong came on but Chelsea were anxious and Martínez had to save well from Olivier Boscagli.
Alonso was calmer when João Pedro combined with Palmer, who dipped inside to curl a brilliant shot past Verbruggen from 20 yards. The watching Thomas Tuchel and Carlo Ancelotti, who left Palmer and João Pedro out of their respective World Cup squads, must have approved. Alonso, though, finished with a few headaches. Caicedo limped off shortly after his introduction and Gross pulled another goal back for Brighton, albeit so deep into added time that there was only just time to restart the game.
