Joao Pedro celebrates vs Brighton
Joao Pedro celebrates vs Brighton
The Brazilian had just dragged an effort wide that you would have put money on him tucking away, especially given the form the forward has been in.
But the saying ‘the cream always rises’ couldn’t be more apt, and it wasn’t long before Chelsea's No.9 was celebrating in front of those Seagulls fans situated in the Shed End as he rifled home a low drive into the bottom corner to extend our lead to 3-0. The joy on his face said it all; this goal meant more.
However, this is the Premier League, and no game is a given. Our 3-0 advantage – courtesy of goals from Romeo Lavia, Pedro Neto and Joao Pedro – was reduced to 3-1 just before the break. Momentum then shifted.
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Catch the highlights of Chelsea's 4-3 Premier League win against Brighton and Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge...
Brighton were pushing and pulled another goal back to make it 3-2, ironically via the boot of Joao Pedro, who diverted a cross his own net.
Several fine stops from debutant Emi Martinez kept the visitors at arm’s length before Cole Palmer – who else? – continued his fine form against the Seagulls by putting the game to bed with a stunning strike.
So, what did our centre-forward make of all that then?
‘I think we started really well, and we got ourselves into a very commanding position with the three goals,’ Joao Pedro explained. ‘Once we conceded a goal though, it brought Brighton back into the game.
‘I think we should have been more consistent and not allow them to get that energy and belief, because we could have killed the game a lot earlier.
‘But I think the team did really well overall, and Dibu [Emi Martinez] showed his quality with some really good saves.
‘We all tried our best defensively and, step by step, we achieved our level, saw the game out and of course the most important thing was to get the three points, which we did.’
It was another productive afternoon for our new attacking line of Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers – the former two finding the net and the latter causing Fabian Hurzeler’s side a mountain of problems off the left and creating our second goal.
Joao Pedro was sharp, led the line expertly and took his goal well – celebrating in front of the Brighton fans who once adored him – and the forward revealed that part of the tactical approach was to utilise the Brazilian’s pace against his former club.
‘I know them [Brighton] really well, so I knew I could be dangerous on the counter and when we turned over possession,’ he stated. ‘We felt that we could show a little bit of speed up front, and we utilised that well.
‘I think up front we are very strong, and myself, Cole and Morgan are linking up well. To be honest, throughout the whole team we have good depth, we have very good players in each position and now we need to build the confidence, the togetherness and maintain this form.
‘It’s been a good start to the season and hopefully we can keep winning.’
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