Chelsea and Frank Lampard finally collected their long-awaited first clean sheet of the season as they comfortably beat Brighton 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
A bright and enterprising start to the game should’ve been taken advantage of as Pedro, Ross Barkley and Marcos Alonso were all guilty of spurning good chances. By deploying Barkley and Mason Mount in the half-space between Brighton’s midfield and defence, the Blues were able to quickly turn over possession by intercepting wayward passes forced by the quick pressing of Tammy Abraham. Early on this tactic helped produce some great opportunities in behind but loose touches and poor decision making meant Chelsea were unable to make the breakthrough in the first half.
Sloppy play from both sides dictated much of the next 45 minutes, and Chelsea finally made use of their high press to induce Brighton into giving away a penalty. Mason Mount was the man to draw the foul, getting to a loose ball ahead of Adam Webster. Jorginho then made light work of the resulting penalty to put Chelsea into the lead and collect his first Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge.
Brighton enjoyed a brief spell in which they looked like they could earn an unlikely equaliser, striking the bar through a Dan Burns header, but as the game became stretched Willian struck on the break to double Chelsea’s lead. Substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi sprung forward with pace before releasing Willian into the area for the Brazilian to strike home via a heavy deflection.
Chelsea could’ve had more but will be glad to have finally gotten their first clean sheet of the season on top of a well deserved three points.
