In the fullness of time Chelsea’s surrender against Brighton & Hove Albion last April may come to be seen as the turning point. The humiliation accelerated Liam Rosenior’s demise and forced the Stamford Bridge hierarchy into a reckoning which has led to the appointment of Xabi Alonso, a shift in the transfer strategy, the JP Morgan front three and the end of Robert Sánchez’s time as the No 1 goalkeeper. For now, though, the argument that Emiliano Martínez is the final piece in the jigsaw seems a touch premature.
There are many enjoyable parts to Alonso’s rejigged Chelsea, especially when Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and João Pedro click in attack, but other problems remain and the early evidence suggests a title challenge will only be sustained if performances become less chaotic. Alonso looked ready to erupt when Chelsea found themselves clinging on to their lead midway through the second half. His side had made a blistering start to this game, rattling three unanswered goals past a weakened Brighton, but the level dipped.
Anxiety gripped Stamford Bridge for a while and although Palmer took over during the dying stages, cutting inside to make it 4-2 with a beautiful finish, there is a sense that Chelsea’s winning start to the Alonso era has been a bit too fun. Conceding five goals in their first two league games is not good enough. Martínez played well but was denied a clean sheet on his debut after joining from Aston Villa for £7.5m.
Brighton exposed shortcomings in the system and Alonso will want more control. Chelsea have had varying degrees of success plundering talent from Brighton during the last four years. João Pedro goes down as a hit, Graham Potter a definite miss, while Sánchez is soon to be cast aside after his unconvincing performance against Fulham convinced Alonso it was time for a change in goal.
Sánchez was not even on the bench against his old side and there was a huge ovation for Martínez before kick-off. The Argentinian’s handling was commanding and something Brighton lacked when the focus fell on Fabian Hürzeler’s goalkeeper. Chelsea led after four minutes.
João Pedro flicked a corner goalwards and Mats Wieffer blocked on the line. The danger appeared to be over, only for Bart Verbruggen to scoop the ball away from his team-mate and into the path of Roméo Lavia, who punished the Brighton goalkeeper’s mistake by jabbing a low finish into the net. It was a lovely moment for Lavia.
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