By Emmanuel Ebimoh
With arguably the most expensive attacking force to the new season, Chelsea lived up to expectation in their first game of the season with an emphatic 3-1 win against Brighton & Hove.
Timo Werner and Kai Havertz both made their debuts for Chelsea, and though neither of them had their name on the scoresheet, coach Frank Lampard would have been impressed with their performances. More significantly was Werner who won a penalty for the Blues in the 23rd minute, which Jorginho coolly converted to give Chelsea the lead.
Brighton started the second half brighter than the visitors and they were rewarded with an equaliser in the 54th minute of the game when Leandro Trossard fired a fierce low drive into the bottom corner of the post. However, their celebration was short-lived, as just two minutes later, Chelsea’s Reese James returned the favour with an unstoppable thunderbolt from 25 yards out into the top corner of the Brighton net to restore the lead for Chelsea.
Then, after the hour mark, on the 66th minute, Chelsea made sure the points were safe in the bag when defender, Kurt Zouma, headed home from a corner kick to put the game at 3-1. It was the goal that effectively quenched the steam from Brighton’s hope.
This first win takes Chelsea as joint leaders on the table alongside rivals like Arsenal and Leicester City.
