West Brom 2-3 Chelsea

West Brom 2-3 Chelsea

Home team scorers
James Morrison 35
James Morrison 59


Away team scorers
Rodriguez Pedro 20
Diego Costa 30
Cesar Azpilicueta 42

Pedro scored 20 minutes into his Chelsea debut to help the ten-man Blues earn their first win of the season in a barnstorming encounter at West Brom.

Thibaut Courtois saved James Morrison’s penalty before the Spaniard opened the scoring with the aid of a deflection.

Diego Costa capped a flowing counter attack to double the visitors’ lead before Morrison’s half volley pulled a goal back for the Baggies.

Cesar Azpilicueta notched his first Chelsea goal to restore the Blues’ two-goal lead and, despite captain John Terry’s dismissal and Morrison’s second after the break, Jose Mourinho’s side hung on to claim a morale-boosting victory.

The high intensity of the game was set in the early stages, and the Baggies should have gone ahead after the lively Callum McManaman was tripped inside the box by Nemanja Matic.

Morrison went for power from the spot, duly sacrificing placement and making it easy for Courtois to save with his legs on his return from a one-match ban.

With Morrison smarting from his miss, Chelsea delivered a sucker punch through Pedro’s first goal in English football after a fine interchange with Eden Hazard.

The Blues then doubled their lead after a brilliant breakaway involving Azpilicueta and Willian before Pedro turned provider for Costa to slide in at the back post.

Morrison halved the arrears and made up for his poor penalty with a sweetly struck volley but Azpilicueta was on hand to restore the two-goal lead just seven minutes later with a cool finish.

After the break, the rollercoaster game took another twist when Terry, following a difficult week in which his selection came under scrutiny, was shown a straight red card for clumsily felling Salomon Rondon when the Venezuelan was through on goal.

The sending off tipped the momentum firmly in the favour of the hosts, and Morrison was on hand again to grab a goal back with a clever header from McManaman’s perfect cross.

Costa and substitute Radamel Falcao were both wasteful as the visitors looked to guarantee the three points, while Rondon and McManaman went close at the other end.

Serge Gnabry, on loan from Arsenal, looked bright in a brief cameo for the Baggies but they couldn’t make the numerical advantage count as Mourinho’s men held out.