Mykhailo Mudryk On Target As Chelsea Beat Ten-Man Brighton 4-3

Brighton were reduced to ten men in the 59th minute when Dutch full-back Jan Paul van Hecke received a second yellow card after a reckless challenge on Cesare Casadei.

Mykhailo Mudryk finally found the net for Chelsea and new signings Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson also scored in a 4-3 friendly win over Brighton in Philadelphia on Saturday. Brighton took the lead in 13th minute when a short corner routine ended with Kaoru Mitoma heading the ball across the box and Danny Welbeck firing home with a first-time drive. French forward Nkunku, a recent acquisition from RB Leipzig for a reported £63 million ($80 million) brought the London club level in the 19th minute for his second goal of pre-season.

Five minutes later Chelsea went ahead when Ukrainian Mudryk burst in from the left and after a smart exchange with Jackson, unleashed a drive into the bottom corner from outside the box.

It was the first Chelsea goal for Mudryk who joined the club in a huge deal, reportedly costing up to 100 million euros (£88 million, $108 million) in January.

Senegal international Jackson then set up Conor Gallagher to make it 3-1 and got on the scoresheet himself with the fourth for Mauricio Pochettino’s team.

A 79th minute penalty from Joao Pedro gave Brighton some hope but although substitute Deniz Undav added a late third for Albion, Chelsea secured the win.

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When Chelsea went behind to Danny Welbeck’s goal it felt, despite being a friendly, like a reality check for the Blues after their 5-0 win over Wrexham. Brighton are a Premier League side who showed they were better than the Blues on two occasions last term who demand respect.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side stuck to their task, while conceding some chances, and produced a promising display with goals arriving from Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk, Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson, before Robert de Zerbi’s side were able to get on the scoresheet again.

It will have ended close than than the Blues hoped at 4-3 but already the summer is moving ahead on a more positive trajectory than 12 months before. with that football.london takes a look at some of the talking points to arise from the win over the Seagulls.

In the last 12 months and perhaps even longer it’s rarely felt like Chelsea would be able to manage one goal so to score four, even in a pre-season friendly, feels like quite the achievement. With nine in two games, Chelsea have already managed almost a quarter of the goals they racked up in the Premier League in the whole of last term.

Nkunku added a second pre-season goal of the season, with a creative finish that once again showed his knack of being able to find the net, Conor Gallagher also found his second goal of the summer, while Mykhailo Mudryk and Nicolas Jackson both scored their first goals for Chelsea The latter duo combined with fluency before Mudryk threatened to burst the net, while Jackson was able to time his run to perfection in behind Brighton’s backline before finishing well.

Jackson in particularly enjoyed a spectacular second half where he racked up two assists before landing the goal of his own. Already it appears the former Villarreal striker knows what he wants from his teammates and Marc Cucurella clearly got the message when releasing his teammate.

The forward said following the game: “When I have space I will run into the space, I always tell them [my teammates].”

It’s a promising start, and Jackson was sure to reflect on what he had done well. The Senegal international spent time after the game reflecting with both Mudryk and Cucurella about their combinations.

Still, it’s hard not to dream of Nkunku and Jackson starting together.

The kids stand a chance

Much has been made about the make-up of Chelsea’s squad that has travelled to the USA. There is little getting away from the number of players who are 21 or under and who face uncertain prospects of making Chelsea’s Premier League squad at the start of the season.

However, Malo Gusto was competitive with Kaoru Mitome in one v one situations, Andrey Santos showed he could battle with Brighton’s midfield, Levi Colwill performed well, Ian Maatsen once again showed fluency to his performance, Carney Chukwuemeka was much improved and Cesare Casadei showed some good moments.

Not all of those players will be in Pochettino’s regular starting lineup but Chelsea’s youth are showing the correct attitute at the moment. They are attacking games with something to prove and that is providing a positivity the Blues have lacked at times.

Levi Colwill is staying put

Mauricio Pochettino may be correct when he says that he does not need to make any statement with Levi Colwill, but keeping him on the pitch for 81 minutes against his suitors certainly felt like one. He has not long joined Chelsea training but stayed on the pitch longer than Thiago Silva and performed well outside of a clumsy tackle that gave Brighton their penalty.