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Chelsea beat Brighton 4-3 at Stamford Bridge with 25.6 per cent possession, the lowest share the club has ever recorded in a Premier League match. Cole Palmer scored the winner on 74 minutes and Joao Pedro registered a goal, an assist and an own goal. Newcastle won 2-0 at Tottenham, Liverpool were held 2-2 by Nottingham Forest, and Everton drew 1-1 at Bournemouth.
London, England: Chelsea had a quarter of the ball on Sunday afternoon and scored four times with it.
They were three goals up inside 32 minutes and finished with 2.97 expected goals to Brighton’s 1.49. They also finished with 25.6 per cent of possession, the lowest figure the club has recorded in a Premier League match. Both things were true, and the second nearly undid the first.
Three Goals in Thirty-Two Minutes
The opener took four minutes and a corner from the right. Joao Pedro headed it goalwards, Mats Wieffer cleared off the line, and Romeo Lavia poked in the rebound. Ten minutes later Pedro Neto turned in Morgan Rogers’ low cutback. On 32, Joao Pedro finished a sweeping counter after a darting run and pass from Jorrel Hato — and celebrated in front of the away supporters who had booed him every time he touched the ball.
Lavia’s goal made Chelsea only the second side to score inside the opening four minutes of each of their first two Premier League games of a season, after Bolton Wanderers in 2002-03. It also arrived four years to the day after his only previous goal in the competition, scored against Chelsea for Southampton.
The Ball Belonged to Brighton
Three minutes after falling 3-0 behind, Malick Yalcouye hammered a volley in off the post on his first Premier League start. Emiliano Martinez, making his debut hours after completing a £7.5m move from Aston Villa, was beaten three times.
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Just after the hour Pascal Gross beat the offside trap from a recycled set-piece and crossed low; a flick off Joao Pedro took the ball past Martinez. Brighton’s 74.4 per cent possession was the highest any side has recorded against Chelsea since records began in 2003-04, and Chelsea’s 146 passes were their fewest in a Premier League game over the same period.
Palmer Ends It
Joao Pedro made amends for the own goal by releasing Palmer inside the Brighton half. Palmer carried it, opened his body and curled a finish past Bart Verbruggen into the bottom-left corner on 74 minutes. It was his sixth goal against Brighton, more than he has scored against any other club.
Gross headed a third in stoppage time, too late to matter. Joao Pedro’s goal, assist and own goal made him the sixth player to manage all three in a Premier League match, and the first to do it for Chelsea.
Alonso called it a brilliant first half hour and said afterwards that he was not excited by the finish, only focused. Moises Caicedo limped off shortly after coming on, and Chelsea are now 18 matches without a Premier League clean sheet, their longest run since 1961.
Elanga and Wissa Leave Spurs on Zero
Anthony Elanga swivelled and finished shortly after the hour at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and Yoane Wissa turned in Nick Woltemade’s knockdown on 72 for his first goal since January. Spurs have lost both league games and conceded five without reply. They had 17 shots for an expected goals figure of 1.04; Newcastle scored with both of their shots on target. Roberto De Zerbi’s side were booed off.
Elanga became the first Newcastle player to score in each of the club’s opening two games of a season since Alan Shearer in 2003-04, and Matthias Jaissle has his first Premier League win.
Iraola Still Waiting at Anfield
Dan Ndoye put Forest ahead on 24, Alexander Isak levelled on the hour, and Morgan Gibbs-White converted from the spot after Alisson caught Neco Williams. Victor Munoz, a £34.5m summer signing, equalised on his home debut eight minutes from time. Andoni Iraola is still without a win, and Forest have now gone three visits to Anfield unbeaten.
Tarkowski Strikes Late Again
Alex Scott put Bournemouth ahead before half-time on Marco Rose’s home debut, and James Tarkowski equalised in stoppage time. Bournemouth have now dropped five points from winning positions in two games, having led Manchester City before losing 2-1.
Chelsea sit third with two wins from two. Alonso takes them to Arsenal next.
Chelsea 4 (Lavia 4′, Neto 14′, Joao Pedro 32′, Palmer 74′) beat Brighton 3 (Yalcouye 35′, Joao Pedro 63′ og, Gross 90+6′)
Half-time: Chelsea 3-1 Brighton · Venue: Stamford Bridge, London
Tottenham 0 lost to Newcastle 2 (Elanga 62′, Wissa 72′) — Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Liverpool 2 (Isak 60′, Munoz 82′) drew with Nottingham Forest 2 (Ndoye 24′, Gibbs-White 71′ pen) — Anfield
Bournemouth 1 (Scott 41′) drew with Everton 1 (Tarkowski 90+1′) — Vitality Stadium
