Chelsea win seven-goal thriller in Summer Series opener

The Premier League Summer Series started in style as Chelsea beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-3 in a thrilling contest in Philadelphia.

Danny Welbeck gave Brighton the lead in the 13th minute when he converted from close range after Kaoru Mitoma had headed a cross back across goal.

Chelsea summer signing Christopher Nkunku equalised before the break with his second goal in as many matches, before the match swung in Chelsea's favour when Jan Paul van Hecke was sent off for a second bookable offence on the hour mark.

Five minutes later Mykhailo Mudryk combined with Nicolas Jackson to produce a superb finish into the bottom left corner for his first Chelsea goal.

Conor Gallagher netted Chelsea's third goal, set up by Jackson, who then scored for the first time following his summer transfer to make it 4-1.

Brighton set up a grandstand finish, with another summer signing, Joao Pedro, getting his first goal for Brighton, who pulled another goal back in the 89th minute when Joao Pedro skilfully set up Deniz Undav.

But Chelsea held on for a win at Lincoln Financial Field that will have impressed their new head coach, Mauricio Pochettino. 

Next up in the Summer Series

There is a Philadelphia double-header of matches on Sunday as Fulham take on west London rivals Brentford before European hopefuls Newcastle United and Aston Villa lock horns.

Both matches could see new signings feature, with Mark Flekken and Nathan Collins named in Brentford's squad, while Newcastle v Villa could feature the likes of Sandro Tonali, Youri Tielemans, and Pau Torres.