Darren Bent picked out Joao Pedro for special praise following Chelsea’s 4-3 win over Brighton, claiming the forward was the best player on the pitch ‘by a distance’.
Chelsea had looked to be cruising towards a comfortable victory as Romeo Lavia, Pedro Neto and Pedro all got on the scoresheet inside the opening 32 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
But the visitors pulled a goal back through Malick Yalcouye on the hour-mark before Pedro directed the ball into his own net against his former club to further reduce the deficit in the 63rd minute.
Xabi Alonso’s men rallied again, though, and a solo piece of brilliance from Cole Palmer restored the hosts’ two-goal advantage with 16 minutes remaining of normal time in west London.
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Pascal Gross’ deflected strike deep into stoppage time ultimately proved a consolation for the travelling Seagulls, with Chelsea holding firm to maintain their 100 per cent record in the Premier League after two games.
The result saw the Blues rise to third, behind newly promoted Hull City and top-of-the-table Manchester City on goal difference.
Watching back Pedro’s 32nd-minute strike in the Sky Sports studio, ex-England and Tottenham striker Bent said: ‘Really good finish.
‘Morgan Rogers was at the heart of it, he starts it, then it’s Hato with a really good run.
‘It’s the first touch out of his feet and then back across the goalkeeper.
‘He was the best player on the pitch, Joao Pedro, by a distance.
The touch out of his feet, opens up the whole goal, goes back across the goalkeeper… it’s a really, really good finish.’
On Pedro’s goal, Bent continued: ‘Absolutely incredible. It’s Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro involved.
‘It’s the little touches from Joao Pedro and when he drives into this position there’s only going to be one outcome.
‘He could lay it to the left but he doesn’t. The power and the accuracy he gets on it.
‘It’s a great run, the turn of pace, that little drive into space… he opens up his body and it’s fantastic finish.
‘[Bart] Verbruggen was absolutely nowhere near it. Fantastic finish.’
It proved a memorable first outing for Emiliano Martinez following the goalkeeper’s transfer move from Aston Villa only hours earlier.
Speaking to Sky Sports shortly after the final whistle, the Argentina international heaped praise on Chelsea’s front three of Pedro, Palmer and Rogers.
‘A win is a win. I know it wasn’t a perfect game,’ he said.
‘But in the end, winning and moving on is what we need. We’ve got 36 games left and it’s one week after another.
‘I am here for a reason. The front three is amazing. When we go forward, we can hurt teams.
‘We had a lot of chances to finish the game. Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro had chances to kill the game. At the back, we need to bring the goals down.’
Chelsea will look to continue their winning start when they return to action in what promises to be an explosive London derby away to Arsenal in a week’s time.
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