Premier League – Chelsea dark for Potter’s return to Brighton (1-4), Tottenham clings to third place

No doubt Graham Potter will fondly remember his return to the Amex Stadium in Brighton. Facing his former club on this twelfth day of the English championship, the current Chelsea coach suffered his very first defeat since taking office (4-1). Taken by the throat from the start of the match, the Blues quickly conceded two goals before letting go a third time just before the break.

Overwhelmed by the incisive attacks of their opponents, the Londoners never gave the impression of being able to return from Brighton with anything other than a defeat. In the standings, the Blues not only let Manchester City take their distance at the top of the Premier League 2022-2023, but also let slip third place in favor of Tottenham, stunning winner in Bournemouth (3-2).

De Zerbi lectured Potter

The weather was fine and the sky was blue this afternoon in Brighton. Yet Roberto De Zerbi was still looking for his first victory since his appointment. On the contrary, Potter had never lost in charge of the Blues. We must believe that the weather was a good omen for the Seagulls… Quickly put to use after an error by Thiago Silva, the Chelsea defense counted on two consecutive saves on the line from their Brazilian defender (2nd, 3rd) before cracking on a goal from the untenable Leandro Trossard (1-0, 5th). Under pressure because of the opposing game deployed, the Londoners let go a second time on a goal against his camp by Ruben Loftus-Cheek (2-0, 14th). Despite a collective reaction, Chelsea suffered counterattacks and on one of them, Pervis Estupinan forced Trevoh Chalobah to score a new goal against his side (3-0, 42nd).

At the end of this catastrophic first period, Graham Potter made a change of goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga being injured. Edouard Mendy took his place in the London cages and was able to witness the reduction of the gap by Kai Havertz, well served in the back of the local defense by Conor Gallagher (48th, 3-1). The Blues tried to put Robert Sanchez in a little more trouble, but Pierre-Eymerick Aubameyang (70th) stumbled on the Spanish goalkeeper and Havertz missed the target when attempting the double (86th). Less in possession of the ball but a good manager, the collective of De Zerbi managed their end of the match to offer themselves a great success with a last shot from Pascal Groß in the back of the net (4-1, 92nd). Second best defense in the Premier League before this afternoon, Chelsea have completely sunk and are ejected from the podium.

Tottenham come back from hell

In the other two fixtures, Newcastle rolled out their football at Saint James’ Park to blast Aston Villa, enough to give Unai Emery some headaches for his first on the Villans bench. Thanks to this success, the Magpies are the new third in the Premier League. At Bournemouth, Tottenham trailed by two goals after Kiefer Moore’s double but Spurs finally took the win thanks to Ryan Sessegnon, Ben Davies and Rodrigo Bentancur (3-2).