Enzo Fernandez's brace help 10-men Chelsea clinch 3-2 victory over Brighton

LONDON: Enzo Fernandez's brace helped 10-men Chelsea to stun Brighton & Hove Albion with a 3-2 victory at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in the Premier League. A five-game thriller kept the spectators on the edge of their seats as the tone of the game was set quite early in the first half.

Without the presence of Lewis Dunk, the Seagulls struggled defensively early in the half and Mauricio Pochettino's side clinched a two-goal advantage midway through the first innings. Enzo Fernandez and Lewis Colwill were the two stars to feature in the scoresheet and hand the Blues a two-goal advantage. Brighton cut short the deficit with Facundo Buonanotte's curling effort and Connor Gallagher was sent off after receiving a second yellow card at the end of the first half. With 10-men down Chelsea ended the first half with a 2-1 advantage.

This was the second consecutive game the Chelsea captain was sent off. Reece James received a red card during Chelsea's 4-1 defeat against Newcastle United last weekend. Despite losing one man, Chelsea continued to keep the attacking threat on as Mykhailo Mudryk charged down the pitch and was brought down in the box by James Milner.

Referee Craig Pawson didn't initially award the penalty but VAR intervened to award the penalty. Fernandez restored the two-goal advantage in the 65th minute of the game. Things started to intensify in the injury time when Joao Pedro found the back of the net in the 92nd minute of the game following a corner.

Chelsea were almost denied three points when Pawson was sent to review a decision by VAR that involved a potential handball inside the box. But the replay clearly showed that the ball struck Colwill's head rather than his arm. The final whistle blew which was met with a loud cheer from the home fans. After this victory Chelsea on the 10th spot with 19 points while Brighton sit in the 8th spot with 22 points.