Chelsea claimed a dramatic 4-3 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, extending manager Xabi Alonso's unbeaten run to two wins from two Premier League outings.

The hosts tore out of the blocks with three goals in the opening half-hour — Romeo Lavia, Pedro Neto, and Joao Pedro all finding the net — before Brighton clawed their way back into contention and made for an uncomfortable finale.

Chelsea's fast start

Lavia opened the scoring in the 4th minute, pouncing on a goalkeeping error by Bart Verbruggen after a corner. Ten minutes later, Morgan Rogers threaded a cross for Neto to double the advantage, the record signing adding an assist to go with his goal against Fulham the previous week.

Joao Pedro, roundly booed by the visiting support having departed Brighton in the summer, wasted a clear opening when he dragged wide from 10 yards in the 25th minute. He made amends moments later, coolly finishing a blistering Chelsea counter in the 32nd minute before sprinting to celebrate directly in front of the Brighton fans.

Brighton's response

The visitors refused to fold. Malick Yalcouye thundered a finish off the woodwork on 35' to halve the deficit before the break, and in the 63rd minute, a Pascal Groß effort deflected off Joao Pedro and looped past debutant goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez — who had joined Chelsea for £7.5 million from Aston Villa — to make it 3-2.

Brighton pressed for a leveller, with Diego Gomez going close and Martinez forced into several sharp interventions, but Cole Palmer ended the suspense in the 74th minute, driving forward from the edge of the box and curling a superb finish into the bottom corner.

Groß headed past Martinez in the 96th minute to give the scoreline a more competitive look, but there was no time for Brighton to push further, and Chelsea held on.

Key absences and concerns

Chelsea were without midfielder Enzo Fernandez for a second successive match amid reported interest from Manchester City, and Moises Caicedo limped off shortly after coming on as a substitute — his first appearance of the season — raising fresh injury concerns at Stamford Bridge.

Brighton, for their part, were already without Yasin Ayari, Georginio Rutter, Jack Hinshelwood, Kaoru Mitoma, and Yankuba Minteh through injury, yet still managed to test Chelsea's defence repeatedly.

Joao Pedro's statement