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Brighton stun Chelsea to win 4-1 on Graham Potter's return

Brighton left Chelsea shocked as they fought their way to a 4-1 win to spoil Graham Potter's return at Falmer Stadium on Saturday.

Forward Leandro Trossard put his side ahead in the fifth minute of the match with excellent footwork in front of the net to beat Kepa, before own goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah made it 3-0 to the hosts.

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Chelsea looked a different side in the second half, with forward Kai Havertz heading home Conor Gallagher's cross to bring one back in the 48th minute, but Brighton's defence and a solid performance from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez kept them at bay before Pascal Groß made it 4-1 in added time. 

The win marks the first time Brighton have beaten Chelsea in league football, leaving questions for Chelsea manager Potter who was making his return 52 days after leaving the club.

Potter left Brighton to succeed outgoing coach Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea last month, returning to the south coast to face his former employers and losing a nine-match unbeaten record in all competitions at his new club.

"Yes of course the scoreline and the defeat is a painful one. We didn't really recover. Once the crowd were so engaged it was a difficult one for us. The scorelline was painful. Brighton played a good game, especially in the first half," Potter said.

"We have to take responsibility a bit in the first half. We have had a lot of football but that's no excuse. We couldn't quite get to that level. We didn't take our oopportunities in attack and they did ... When you lose you can always do better."

Goalscorer Trossard gave credit to Potter for his time at Brighton, but said he was pleased with his sides victory.

"I'm really pleased. We knew it wouldn't be as easy in the first half as they would try to come and score a goal. I thought we did really well then finished it off at the end," Trossard said after the match. 

"I think the team has had a good start to the season. We played really well but needed that win. Four goals as well. Let's enjoy tonight.

"I had a few really good years under Graham Potter. There will be a bit of time [before chatting] after this performance but it's up to us now to celebrate it as we were the better team so need to enjoy it. Another thing to celebrate for us."

Groß's last-gasp fourth goal capped a fine afternoon for Potter's successor Roberto De Zerbi, with the first win of his reign moving Brighton up to seventh in the standings, while Chelsea stay fifth, eight points behind leaders Manchester City.

Information from Reuters contributed to this report. 

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