Chelsea 2-0 Brighton: Lampard off the mark with first home PL win

Chelsea earned a deserved 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday through a Jorginho penalty and a deflected strike from Willian.

Chelsea's Jorginho converted from 12 yards after Webster had brought down his teammate Mason Mount.

A Jorginho penalty and a deflected strike from Willian earned Chelsea its first home Premier League win under Frank Lampard as it beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 on Saturday.

Lampard's men had drawn two and lost one of its opening three matches at Stamford Bridge this term, but it deservedly got off the mark on this occasion.

Brighton, now beaten in all nine of its league meetings with Chelsea, survived an onslaught on its goal in the first half but Adam Webster gifted the Blues a spot-kick early in the second half.

Jorginho converted from 12 yards after Webster had brought down Mason Mount, who pounced on the defender's heavy first touch in the box, while Willian added a second 14 minutes from time to send Chelsea up to sixth in the table.

 

Tammy Abraham was unable to make any contact with Mount's inswinging free-kick in a first half dominated by Chelsea, the ball going right through and coming back off the post.

Mat Ryan was equal to shots from Ross Barkley and Pedro, who both should have been doing better with just the Brighton keeper to beat, while Marcos Alonso volleyed wide from close range shortly before the interval.

Chelsea's much-merited breakthrough goal arrived five minutes into the second half, however, as Webster brought down Mount and Jorginho sent the penalty into the bottom-left corner - the 100th to be scored at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

Ryan temporarily kept Brighton in the match by producing good saves to deny Pedro and Abraham, who was played in by a poor pass from opposition midfielder Dale Stephens.

However, Willian sealed victory for Chelsea, powering an effort past Ryan via a deflection off Dan Burn - who had just grazed the bar with a header from a corner at the other end.

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Three days on from putting seven goals past Grimsby Town in the EFL Cup, Chelsea registered 17 first-half attempts without finding a way through - its highest such tally since August 2013, and highest without scoring since November 2010.

A mixture of good goalkeeping and poor finishing nearly cost them, though in the end Jorginho's penalty and Willian's somewhat fortunate strike proved enough to get them back to winning ways in the top flight.

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Jorginho holds his nerve

Jorginho calmly picked his spot for Chelsea's key opener and now has as many goals in all competitions this season (2) as he managed in 54 games under Maurizio Sarri.

The holding midfielder turned over possession more often than any other player on the field, meanwhile, and also contributed three key passes - the most in the contest.

A nightmare moment for Webster

Keeping things tight early in the second half would have been the message from Graham Potter to his players during the interval. Quite what Webster was thinking, then, is anyone's guess. 

The defender was caught out by Mount when attempting to play the ball out from the back and Brighton, poor in an attacking sense all match, was unable to recover.

What's next?

Chelsea travels to Lille on Wednesday seeking its first Champions League points of the campaign. It returns to Premier League action next Sunday with a trip to Southampton, while Brighton hosts Tottenham a week today.