Graham Potter’s return to England’s south coast was an unhappy one, with Chelsea losing 1-4 to Brighton in the English Premier League.
The Seagulls, managed by Potter before he took up the Chelsea job this season, were quick off the blocks on Saturday, rushing into a 2-0 lead within 15 minutes through Leandro Trossard and a Ruben Loftus-Cheek own-goal.
A rampant Brighton took advantage of Potter’s decision to start with just two defenders and capitalised on their frailties at the back to make it 3-0 by halftime through another own-goal, this time by Trevor Chalobah.
Chelsea started the second half well and Kai Havertz’s early goal raised hopes of a comeback but Brighton held on firmly and a Pascal Gross goal in injury time added gloss to their victory.
It was almost poetic that Roberto De Zerbi’s first win as Brighton boss and his predecessor Potter’s first loss as Chelsea manager came in this game. The result sees the Blues slip out of the Champions League places into fourth while Brighton move into seventh.
Elsewhere, unlike their London neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur were successful in mounting a comeback.
Antonio Conte’s side was 0-2 down at Bournemouth through goals from Keiffer Moore and Lewis Cook. But goals from Ryan Sessegnon and Ben Davies brought Spurs back on level terms and had the Cherries pegged back in their box for the last quarter of the game in search of a winner.
Their pressure bore fruit, with Uruguayan Rodrigo Bentancur scoring in injury time to help Spurs take all three points. Spurs were winless in their last three games and Saturday’s result will ease the pressure on Conte.
Tottenham now sit just two points behind Arsenal in third. Bournemouth, who have lost their last three games, sit in 14th.
We dug deep. We fought until the end.
COME 👏
ON 👏
YOU 👏
SPURS 👏 pic.twitter.com/fe2ZTwl15v
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 29, 2022
Meanwhile, despite being without top scorers Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, Manchester City defeated Leicester City 1-0 in the early kickoff. Kevin de Bruyne’s sumptuous free-kick in the second half saw City move top of the table having played a game more than second-placed Arsenal.
Newcastle United comfortably brushed off Aston Villa 4-0, with a Callum Wilson double and goals from Joelinton and the in-form Miguel Almiron. The Paraguayan has scored in each of his last three games and already has six goals to his name this year – that is as many as he had in the previous two years combined.
Brentford were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Wolves, while Patrick Viera’s Crystal Palace defeated Southampton 1-0.
