Chelsea vs Brighton: Red-hot Joao Pedro stars as Blues come out tops in 7-goal thriller

Xabi Alonso's side flew out of the blocks, with Romeo Lavia opening the scoring in the fourth minute before Pedro Neto doubled the advantage ten minutes later.

Joao Pedro put the game seemingly beyond Brighton with a composed right-footed finish from the centre of the box on 32 minutes, putting Chelsea 3-0 up and in complete control.

Brighton refused to lie down. Malick Yalcouye pulled one back agaisnt Blues new boy Emi Martinez, just before the break to give the Seagulls hope, and that hope grew when Joao Pedro inadvertently turned the ball into his own net on 63 minutes to make it 3-2.

Cole Palmer steadied Chelsea's nerves with a crucial fourth goal on 74 minutes, but Brighton kept pressing and Pascal Gross' late strike deep into stoppage time set up a frantic finish.

Ultimately it was not enough, as Chelsea held on to claim all three points.