Chelsea scored 31 seconds into our first game, last weekend. In our second, we had to wait all the way until the 4th minute, with Roméo Lavia taking advantage of some confusion between defender and goalkeeper on a corner to get a toe in and score his first ever Chelsea goal.
Unlike last weekend, Chelsea were able to build on that early goal. High-octane running from the Blues led to two more goals within the next 20-25 minutes, Morgan Rogers setting up Pedro Neto, then Jorrel Hato setting up João
Pedro. JP had missed a glorious opportunity just a few minutes prior, but he made no mistake with the second chance.
Brighton had the vast majority of the possession, but the vast majority of that was had in harmless areas. Chelsea were controlling the dangerous central spaces with compact defending and the new man in goal was dealing well with crosses and the pressures on set pieces.
Chelsea got a bit too casual and relaxed at times late in the first-half; Brighton took advantage of one of those to get on the board, but overall, it was an excellent first 45 minutes from the Blues.
The second half began in slightly less promising fashion, with Brighton pressing for a second and just missing a sitter from a set piece. Chelsea responded with a couple excellent opportunities, including Cole Palmer somehow missing from four yards out after more good work in chance-creation from Neto and Rogers.
Those missed opportunities would come back to haunt us a bit when a lucky deflection gave Brighton a second with a little under thirty minutes still left on the clock. Alonso responded by making a triple change, then another change a minute after and he was rewarded for that with a Palmer goal, to restore our two-goal lead as we headed into the final fifteen minutes. Palmer couldn’t score from four yards, but he couldn’t miss from twenty. Football!
Chelsea would see out the remaining 15 and change without too much trouble, with Caicedo’s (re-)injury the only concern. Brighton would score with pretty much the last touch of the game to make the scoreline look closer than it was.
Carefree.
- Two changes from last weekend, with Fofana coming back in for Acheampong and Pedro Neto in for Reece James (with Malo Gusto sliding central in midfield)
- Lots of shifting in the second half in terms of personnel and setup, with Alonso reshaping both the midfield and the defense as the game wore on; rare to see proactive changes in those areas ahead of changes in the front line, but Alonso responded to the game situations as was necessary
- Neto appeared to tweak something in his left leg; he played on, but then pulled up on a sprint
- Caicedo’s day lasts just 13 minutes; he was questionable for the game so hopefully he didn’t re-aggravate that injury concern too badly
- Finally a win after four defeats in a row against Brighton
- Next up: Arsenal away, next weekend
- KTBFFH
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