Chelsea made it two wins from two Premier League matches under Xabi Alonso after holding off a spirited fightback from Brighton & Hove Albion to triumph 4-3 at Stamford Bridge.
Having only needed 31 seconds to strike in their Matchweek 1 win over Fulham, Chelsea made another fast start as Romeo Lavia scored his first Premier League goal for the club in the fourth minute, with Pedro Neto adding a second 10 minutes later.
Former Brighton striker Joao Pedro looked to have ended the contest when he made it 3-0 in the 32nd minute, though he later put through his own net as the Seagulls threatened a comeback, with Malick Yalcouye having earlier netted his maiden Premier League goal.
But Cole Palmer’s cultured finish allowed Chelsea to breathe a sigh of relief, meaning Pascal Gross’ header six minutes into stoppage time proved a mere consolation.
How the match unfolded
Chelsea’s first set-piece resulted in the opener as Joao Pedro glanced on Neto’s corner, and though Mats Wieffer initially cleared off the line, he and Bart Verbruggen got in one another’s way leaving Lavia to pounce for a tap-in.
The Blues’ second goal was all about Morgan Rogers, who drove into the area before crossing low from the left, and Neto got across Ferdi Kadioglu to finish with the outside of his right boot.
Joao Pedro should have made it 3-0 in the 25th minute, rolling his effort wide of the left post after being teed up superbly by Neto, but the Brazilian atoned soon after following an adventurous run and pass from Jorrel Hato.
Brighton responded well, though, and when Chelsea debutant Emiliano Martinez smothered Charalampos Kostoulas’ attempted lob 10 minutes before half-time, Yalcouye rattled the loose ball in off a post.
Both sides missed glaring opportunities within the first few minutes of the second half, with Diego Gomez sending a bullet header wide before Palmer flicked over an open goal at the other end.
It looked as though that latter miss could haunt Chelsea when Gross’ cross deflected in off the unfortunate Joao Pedro, but Palmer had other ideas.
Having taken in Joao Pedro’s knockdown and scampered towards the edge of the area, he swept a trademark finish into the bottom-left corner.
Gross found the top corner with a fine header, but it was too little too late for Brighton, who sit eighth in the table, while Chelsea climb to third ahead of next weekend’s tantalising encounter with Arsenal.
