Pochettino has the last laugh as £200m investment sees Chelsea beat Brighton
Robert Sanchez had the ex-factor as 10-man Chelsea survived Connor Gallagher's red card and a chaotic finish to win the latest grudge match against his former club.
Enzo Fernandez scored twice - including a VAR-assisted penalty - and former Brighton loanee Levi Colwill netted his first Blues goal to give them just their second home Premier League of the season. But that does not tell the story of a mad game of five goals, 10 yellow cards, two huge VAR decisions and a red played amid the simmering bad feeling between these two clubs.
Chelsea have given Brighton over £200million over the last 18 months for Moises Caicedo, the suspended Marc Cucurella and Graham Potter's coaching team. Yet the best return on Sunday was the £25m spent this summer on Spain goalkeeper Sanchez who made a series of late saves to protect the win.
After being mercilessly barracked by the travelling Albion fans, he even found the time and energy to clash with his Brighton opposite number Jason Steele in post-match melee. Chelsea’s last four games have now seen 23 goals scored. But after Sanchez had conceded four goals in the last two games against Manchester City and Newcastle, the Blues conceded only one goal in over 55 minutes with a one man disadvantage.
But the nervy nature of the finish was shown when the biggest cheer of the afternoon came when a VAR review saw referee Craig Pawson overturn his decision to award Brighton a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half injury time after his VAR review showed the ball hit Colwill in the head. This latest Battle of the Bridge was crazy from start to finish.
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Mauricio Pochettino said: "We needed to win the three points and we got the three points. Maybe we conceded but we need to score. That is entertainment. It is football. People love to see two offensive teams playing. In the last few games we were involved in too many goals. That is why we are all here, the Premier League is the best league. Of course I want to score 10 goals and concede zero. But if you want to be offensive sometimes you concede chances and score goals."
Yet the result did not seem in doubt after 21 minutes when Brighton conceded twice from corners - and Lewis Dunk’s red card at Nottingham Forest last weekend seemed to be the deciding factor as the England defender was suspended on Sunday.
Robert Sanchez produced a good performance on Sunday (Getty Images)What did you make of Chelsea's win against Brighton? Let us know in the comments below!
First Benoit Badiashile hooked Gallagher's corner back across goal for Fernandez to head home his first Premier League goal. And four minutes later Levi Colwill headed home his first Chelsea goal despite Billy Gilmour’s attempt to clear off the line.
Brighton are still to keep a Premier League clean sheet this season. Gallagher got his first yellow for a crude challenge on Facundo Buonanotte after half an hour. The Argentine responded by finishing a flowing Albion move by cutting inside Colwill and curling home two minutes before the break. But there was still time before the interval for Gallagher to get a second yellow card for a silly sliding challenge in midfield on Gilmour.
Roberto De Zerbi, whose side reached the Europa League knockout stages in Athens on Thursday, responded with a quadruple substitution after 57 just before the best move of the game - and the biggest controversy.
Sanchez caught a corner to spark a counterattack which saw Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson combine to release Mykhaylo Mudryk. The Ukrainian was fended away by James Milner but Pawson gave the kick after VAR review and Fernandez scored again.
Brighton then dominated possession only for Sanchez to deny Pascal Gross and Kaoru Mitoma. But the visitors could not add to sub Joao Pedro flicked header from Gross' corner in the second minute of injury time - the final goal of a thrilling contest.
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