Chelsea keep winning under Xabi Alonso, but they are yet to reassure at the back. In his first game at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League in charge of the Spaniard, the Blues beat Brighton 4-3 in another spectacular match. Two league matchdays, two wins, seven goals scored… and already five conceded.
An irresistible Chelsea for 32 minutes
Chelsea wasted no time taking control. As early as the 4th minute, Romeo Lavia capitalised on confusion between Mats Wieffer and Bart Verbruggen at a corner to score his first goal for the Blues. Ten minutes later, Pedro Neto doubled the lead following excellent work from Morgan Rogers.
In the 32nd minute, João Pedro punished his former club after a pass from Jorrel Hato. Chelsea led 3-0 and looked set for a comfortable win. But Brighton immediately reminded everyone of this new side's defensive limitations.
Malick Yalcouyé pulled one back in the 35th minute with a superb volley. Then, after the break, a shot from Pascal Gross was deflected by João Pedro and beat Emiliano Martínez in the 63rd minute. Brighton were back to 3-2.
Palmer sets Chelsea straight again
As Stamford Bridge began to doubt, Cole Palmer once again stepped up. In the 74th minute, the Englishman relieved the pressure with a superb piece of skill before finding the near post to restore his side's two-goal cushion.
Pascal Gross pulled one back again in stoppage time, but Chelsea held on until the final whistle.
João Pedro alone summed up this match: a goal, an assist and an own goal. A paradoxical but decisive performance in the Blues' victory.
Alonso wins, but the defensive work remains huge
The start of the Alonso era is appealing going forward. João Pedro, Palmer and Rogers already seem perfectly complementary, while Pedro Neto contributes enormously in his more hybrid role. Chelsea have scored seven goals in their first two Premier League matchdays.
But the other number is far less flattering: five goals conceded. And crucially, the Blues have now gone 18 league matches without a clean sheet, their longest such run in more than six decades. Brighton also had 74.4% possession, a record against Chelsea since such data has been recorded.
Alonso does not deny it. After the match, the Spaniard acknowledged that Chelsea need to improve defensively and stressed that getting more clean sheets would naturally lead to more wins. He nonetheless insisted on the positive energy around the team and the need to keep progressing match by match.
Emiliano Martínez, on his debut for Chelsea, also identified the problem:
'We need to bring down the goals conceded.'
The Argentine nonetheless made several important saves to keep his side ahead.
So Chelsea keep winning. And that is probably the main takeaway from this start to the season: Alonso has already put together a team capable of producing a great deal going forward. Now he needs to give it enough stability at the back.
The next big test will give a first real indicator of the level of this new Chelsea side: Arsenal, on 6 September.
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