EPL: Graham Potter suffer a nightmare return to Brighton as the Seagulls thrash Chelsea 4-1

Potter’s return to Brighton just seven weeks after his surprising departure to take over at Chelsea was a day to forget.

As the hosts led 3-0 at halftime, home fans booed their former boss and screamed, ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning.’

His debut in the away dugout at the Amex immediately turned into a nightmare, with the Seagulls scoring twice in the first 15 minutes of sheer mayhem.

Brighton have struggled for goals since replacing Potter with Roberto De Zerbi, but Leandro Trossard has again delivered.

What happened in the game?

Brighton rushed up the pitch, pounced on a lost ball from Chelsea, and Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma drove into the penalty area with the ball before passing a brilliant ball square to Trossard, who rounded Kepa Arrizabalaga and tapped in with a crisp finish into the bottom corner.

That goal meant Trossard – who scored a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Liverpool in De Zerbi’s first game – became the first player in Premier League history to score a manager’s first five goals in charge of a club.

It could have been a lot worse for Chelsea if Thiago Silva hadn’t come back to clear off the line TWICE before Trossard’s opener.

Ruben Lofus-Cheek carelessly turned the ball into his own net from a Brighton corner, and it was soon 2-0.

But the chaos continued as Chelsea roared back – or tried to, at any rate.

Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez had to make two fantastic saves to prevent a Blues comeback, while Conor Gallagher and Christian Pulisic both squandered easy chances.

Moises Caicedo of the Seagulls afterwards clattered the post with a powerful shot, rattling the woodwork.

With 30 minutes remaining, the score could easily have been 4-4.

Instead, Brighton led 3-0 at halftime owing to another Blues own-goal, this time from Trevoh Chalobah, who slid the ball into his own net from Pervis Estupinan’s cross.

Kai Havertz pulled one back for the visitors early in the second half, threatening to start a comeback.

And an extraordinarily wasteful Chelsea team had enough of chances to win the game.

But Brighton deservedly added a fourth as a slew of Chelsea errors allowed Pascal Gross to score in stoppage time.

Graham Potter’s ten-game unbeaten run with the Blues is over in the worst way possible.