By Sachit Subba • Football • Aug 30, 2026 16:59 PM • 138 views
In London, Cole Palmer scored an important second-half goal to ensure Chelsea's exciting 4-3 win against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, thus keeping Xabi Alonso's opening period in charge of the Stamford Bridge dugout intact.
In the space of 32 minutes, Chelsea had established a 3-0 lead before managing to hold on during a determined comeback effort by Fabian Huerzeler's team. The win has now put the Blues on full points, level with Manchester City and Hull City at the top of the Premier League table.
Alonso brought Emiliano Martinez in from Aston Villa and gave him an immediate start, leaving Robert Sanchez on the bench. The home team rushed forward as soon as the match began. Romeo Lavia scored by capitalising on a miscommunication between Mats Wieffer and goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. A few moments later, Morgan Rogers passed through alongside the record Brighton signing Luka Vuskovic and played the ball back to Pedro Neto, who then put it into the net from near the goal.
Joao Pedro added to Brighton's early difficulties by scoring against his former club, making it 3-0. However, the visitors—who had started their campaign with a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa—would not give up.
Chelsea have not kept a clean sheet in the Premier League since January. In the 35th minute, Malick Yalcouye capitalised on the team's weakness with a volley after a loose clearance. The away side levelled early in the second half when Joao Pedro brilliantly deflected Pascal Gross's shot into the Chelsea goal.
Palmer reestablished order for the home team; the England international discovered space inside the box and scored a well-controlled goal to give Chelsea some breathing space. Although Gross headed in a third goal for Brighton in stoppage time, Alonso's players remained firm until the very end.
"Regarding the game, there are various moments, some of which we have handled really well and others where we could have done better," Alonso said. "I want to win no matter what it takes; today was a great challenge and the one next Sunday will be as well."
After winning 3-2 against Fulham last weekend, Chelsea have now scored seven goals and conceded five in their first two matches. Alonso will face his toughest tactical challenge next weekend when Chelsea play champions Arsenal.
In other Premier League matches, Brentford failed to move level with Chelsea on six points after drawing 1-1 with Leeds United. Kevin Schade earned the Bees a well-deserved advantage after a strong opening period organised by Mamadou Sangare. Thomas Frank's team had 22 shots on goal, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored in the second half by tapping in Lukas Nmecha's cross to secure a point for Leeds.
Wilson Isidor scored the winning goal as a substitute at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland's 1-0 win against Fulham. Alvaro Arbeloa, Fulham's new manager, now has no points from his first two matches.
