July 23, (THEWILL) – Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea continued their impressive start in the pre-season Summer Series with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion in Philadelphia.
The Blues, now with two wins out of two under Pochettino’s management, displayed rapid-fire progress, especially after Brighton were reduced to 10 men following Jan Paul van de Hecke’s red card on the hour mark. Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk, Conor Gallagher, and Nicolas Jackson were the goal heroes for Chelsea in an entertaining friendly match.
In the closely contested encounter, Brighton initially took the lead with a powerful finish from Danny Welbeck, but Chelsea quickly responded as new boy Nkunku found the back of the net for the second consecutive game. The equaliser, scrappily tucked away by Nkunku, came after some neat play between Carney Chukwuemeka and Ian Maatsen in the box. Brighton showed resilience with Chelsea keeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, being the busier of the two goalkeepers, but the tide turned in favour of the Blues after Van Hecke’s double booking.
With their numerical superiority, Chelsea made decisive changes and introduced Jackson and Mudryk into the fray. The duo proved instrumental, with Jackson providing an excellent assist for Mudryk to confidently finish. Gallagher further extended Chelsea’s lead by reacting swiftly to a rebound from Cesare Casadei’s shot. Jackson’s impressive display reached its pinnacle when he scored a delightful fourth goal for the Blues.
Although Joao Pedro managed to pull one back for Brighton from the penalty spot, Chelsea held on to claim a hard-fought victory, even with Denis Undav netting a late consolation for the Seagulls.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
