Chelsea beat Brighton 3-2 in an entertaining game in West London despite being reduced to 10 men after Conor Gallagher’s first-half red card.
Enzo Fernandez’s first Premier League goal opened the scoring for Chelsea on 17 minutes and the Blues took control of the contest four minutes later, as Levi Colwill scored his first goal for the club, against the side where he spent last season on loan.
Facundo Buonanotte pulled one back for Brighton, who were given another boost when Chelsea captain Gallagher was sent off for a second bookable offence on the stroke of half-time.
Fernandez scored a second from the penalty spot to reestablish Chelsea’s two-goal buffer, but a nervy finish saw the ten men hang on.
Joao Pedro scored in stoppage time for Brighton, before the Seagulls were awarded a penalty for a handball from Colwill. VAR overturned the decision, however, after the defender was deemed to have not handled.
“Crazy. It’s the most competitive league,” Mauricio Pochettino reflected to BBC Match of the Day.
“We started well, we were playing well 11 v 11. It was a complicated second half with one player less.
“Brighton are a very good team and are playing well. We had to go deep but we scored the third goal with one man less. I need to watch the game again but second half was good. Overall, we deserved to win.”
