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Chelsea beat Brighton as Potter scores in first start

Lexi Potter of Chelsea scores her team's second goalGetty Images

At a glance

Alyssa Thompson scores opener for Chelsea

Brighton strike back through Carla Camacho

Lexi Potter, 19, then nets first Blues goal in first WSL start

PLAYER RATER

Adwaidh Rajan

BBC Sport journalist

Teenage midfielder Lexi Potter scored her first Chelsea goal in her first Women's Super League start as the newly-crowned Women's League Cup champions defeated Brighton 2-1 at Kingsmeadow.

Alyssa Thompson's early opener for the reigning English champions was cancelled out by Carla Camacho before the 19-year-old academy graduate struck to restore the home side's lead before the interval.

Potter, who became the youngest female player in England to sign a professional football contract in 2023 when she was 17, was a late substitute in Sunday's 2-0 win against Manchester United in the cup final.

Brighton made a bright start with Camacho carving out two chances inside the opening 10 minutes but her close‑range effort was blocked by Veerle Buurman before she fired into the side‑netting.

But, as so often is the case with Chelsea, they needed only one chance to punish their opponents as Thompson met Sandy Baltimore's cross with a thumping header to put the Blues in front in the 13th minute.

Brighton hit back just four minutes later as Camacho's strike from outside the box took a deflection off Lucy Bronze to creep past Hannah Hampton - a first WSL goal for the Spanish forward who signed last summer.

But another Baltimore cross in the 39th minute created a pinball effect in the Brighton box and this time it was Potter who pounced to make her first league start even more special with the winner on her side's return to WSL action.

With five games remaining, Chelsea are seven points behind leaders Manchester City with 36 points while Brighton remain eighth on 17 points.

More to follow.

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Chelsea

Brighton & Hove Albion

Starting XI

24H. Hampton

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17S. Baltimore

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5V. Buurman

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22L. Bronze

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6S. Nüsken

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30K. Walsh

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32L. Potter

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10L. James

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18W. Kaptein

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12A. Thompson

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33A. Beever-Jones

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42C. Sarwie

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Starting XI

1C. Nnadozie

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19M. Olislagers

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2M. Vanegas

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18C. Hayes

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27R. McLauchlan

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10J. Čanković

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8M. Symonds

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15N. Noordam

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14F. Kirby

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22Carla Camacho

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21M. Haley

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23M. Auée

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6R. Kafaji

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5M. Mpome

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17B. Rayner

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20O. Tvedten

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