Chelsea has begun the Premier League season with a 3-1 away win against Brighton as Timo Werner and Kai Havertz made their debuts.
Having made a number of marquee signings so far this summer, only the German pair were fit enough to feature at the Amex Stadium. Werner, in particular, was lively on his first competitive Chelsea appearance and won a penalty in the 21st minute as Mat Ryan swiped at his legs, which Jorginho dispatched.
But Brighton had their fair share of chances and deservedly levelled when Leandro Trossard fired home, with Kepa Arrizabalaga’s ability to deal with long-range strikes once again called into question.
But Chelsea restored their lead less than two minutes later when Reece James drilled home his first Premier League goal in a stunning fashion. Kurt Zouma then nabbed a goal himself with his shot diverting off the toe of Adam Webster, leaving Ryan rooted to the spot.
The victory marks a successful start for Frank Lampard’s new-look side – whose last two title wins have started with victory on a Monday evening – while Brighton will feel like they deserved something from the encounter.
Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard thought his side’s performance was “OK” and “liked the work ethic and the discipline of the team.”
He said, “When you analyse the fact that we’ve been together as a team for four days, to expect everything to click on day one is going to be very difficult. But what they did do was show a little bit of determination and that is a game we might have dropped points in last year.
“That’s not the end of the story, I’m not getting excited about that on day one, but it had a bit of determination and resilience about it.”
Wolves also made a blistering start to their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side scored twice inside the first six minutes, man of the match Raul Jimenez converting Daniel Podence’s cross before Romain Saiss’ header doubled the advantage.
After the break, Sheffield United were a different side as John Fleck hit the post and George Baldock saw a shot cleared off the line by Conor Coady, but Wolves should have made the game safe when Saiss’ effort was tipped onto the post by Aaron Ramsdale and Jimenez steered the rebound wide.
The Blades continued to plug away right until the final whistle, but it was to no avail as Wolves held on for an opening weekend victory.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo was pleased with his side’s performance after the game.
He said, “This is the first official match we’ve had, and everybody was waiting to see the response of the players and that is what pleases me more.
“Here is always very hard, Sheffield is a fantastic team and they create a lot of problems, but we stayed in the game so (I’m) very happy.
“We knew, it is clear that Sheffield will start fast, and the message was ‘let’s start faster’. You saw the energy we had and we were effective the first two times we arrived in the box.”
