Chelsea beat Brighton 4-0... and a big win for United

London (AFP) – Chelsea continued their promising start under new Spanish manager Xabi Alonso, securing their second consecutive victory at the beginning of the new English Premier League season by defeating visitors Brighton 4-3 on Sunday in Matchday 2.

Chelsea signed Alonso to put the club back on track after a disappointing tenth-place finish in the league last season. He began his tenure with the former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid coach with a 3-2 win over local rivals Fulham, before overcoming Brighton on Sunday.

Chelsea, who also beat Luton Town 2-0 on Thursday in the League Cup, believed they would secure the match easily after taking a three-goal lead in the first half. However, Brighton refused to surrender and fought until the final whistle.

Young Belgian Romeo Lavia opened the scoring for the home side with a goal in the fourth minute, making Chelsea only the second team in Premier League history to score in the first four minutes of both their opening two matches of a season, according to Opta statistics. Bolton Wanderers achieved this feat in the 2002-03 season, having scored within the first minute of their opening match.

Portuguese winger Pedro Neto doubled the home side’s lead (14th minute) before Brazilian Joao Pedro added a third (32nd), following up on his role as the scorer in the opening match.

Brighton reduced the deficit before the end of the first half through Ivorian forward Marc-André ter Stegen (35th minute). They returned to the contest early in the second half, narrowing the gap to one goal with a shot from German midfielder Pascal Groß that deflected off Pedro Neto and fooled new teammate Martinez (63rd minute).

Brighton continued their attack and threatened the home side’s goal on several occasions despite multiple changes made by Alonso. However, Cole Palmer eased his fans’ nerves with a brilliant strike from the edge of the penalty area into the bottom right corner, dampening the visitors’ resolve (75th minute).

Chelsea suffered a blow when substitute Ecuadorian Moises Caicedo was forced off the pitch with an injury in the 82nd minute. Groß then added a third goal for the visitors in stoppage time (90+6), but it came too late as the Blues secured their first win against Brighton after four consecutive defeats.

With a single goal scored by Haitian striker Wilson Isidor in the 75th minute, Sunderland recorded their first Premier League victory.

In the second match, Manchester United, making their first home appearance of the season, turned a deficit against the returning Ipswich Town into a comprehensive 5-2 win, thanks to a hat-trick from captain Bruno Fernandes, avenging their opening-day 2-0 home loss to Hull City.

Izzy Konsa could make his first appearance for Arsenal, where he may face a cold reception from supporters of his former club upon his return to Villa Park.

The English international is only part of a wide-ranging exodus from Aston Villa in recent months, which has led to the disintegration of the squad of the Europa League champions and fourth-place finishers in the previous season.

Exhausted Villa found themselves trailing 4-0 to Brighton in just 31 minutes during the previous round.

Worse may await the Villans against the Gunners, who are brimming with champion confidence.

Manager Mikel Arteta’s men thrashed Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield to claim the title, and they repeated that scenario with an ideal start to defend their Premier League crown against Coventry.

Meanwhile, John McGinn, Villa’s captain, hopes his team can achieve a successful season as long as Spanish coach Unai Emery remains at the helm.