There was plenty of Premier League action on Saturday but if you missed out on Brighton’s thrashing of Chelsea, we’re sorry.
Here are our three takeaways from the Seagulls’ 4-1 win.
Brighton with a point to prove
The Seagulls were firing on all cylinders on Saturday as they welcomed their former boss back to AmEx Stadium and clearly had a game plan to stick it to Graham Potter.
Home fans also made their opinions known with boos toward the manager and their former-defender Marc Cucurella.
With Leandro Trossard leading the front line, Brighton sliced through Chelsea’s defence with ease and relentless pressure led to 3-0 at half-time.
Looking at the full-time stats, things were fairly tight with the hosts coming out on top with 19 shots compared to 15 (nine on target to seven) but had less possession of the ball (40%).
However, the difference was clearly the hunger that Brighton had right from kick-off as they had a point to prove.
Perhaps Potter made the wrong decision to leave mid-way through the season.
De Zerbi era truly begins
As we already know the stage was laced with drama ahead of kick-off as Graham Potter returned to face his former club managing a different shade of blue.
But it was his replacement Roberto De Zerbi that walked away laughing after 90 minutes.
During his pre-match press conference, the Italian downplayed Potter’s inside knowledge of the squad and insisted he has instilled new ideas into Brighton.
And that proved to be the truth on Saturday with the inspired hosts playing lethal football that Chelsea subsequently had no response to.
It is the first win under the De Zerbi era for the Seagulls who will take these three points as a massive confidence booster given the context.
Add this result to their earlier 3-3 draw with Liverpool and when Brighton are firing, they are clearly a threat to ‘top six’ clubs.
Perhaps they’re just getting started now?
How will Chelsea bounce back?
It seems as though the honeymoon era is finally over at Chelsea.
Graham Potter’s 10-match unbeaten run comes crashing down in dramatic fashion and the situation poses a new challenge up ahead. How will Chelsea bounce back?
The Blues were a step behind against Brighton across 90 minutes, switched formations multiple times and brought on numerous substitutes but did not have an answer.
Before kick-off, Chelsea had only conceded four goals in 810 minutes under their new boss only to see Brighton put three past them in the first half.
Their one positive, however, will be the performance of Kai Havertz who scored his second goal in as many games.
Of course, given the storyline, it was always going to be a tough clash but it is still three dropped points for the club and they sit fifth in the table.
Chelsea now have a testing schedule ahead; facing Arsenal and Newcastle in the league (both in the top four) plus the Champions League and Manchester City in the EFL Cup.
How will the Potter era respond?
