Albion had plenty to be positive about as their Summer Series programme opened with narrow defeat by Chelsea, writes Larry Henry Jr.

Roberto De Zerbi’s squad went into the break level 1-1 at Lincoln Financial Field before ultimately falling short in a 4-3 loss to the Blues.

Despite playing most of the second half down to ten men following Jan Paul van Hecke’s red card, Joao Pedro, Deniz Undav and Danny Welbeck all walked away with their first goals of the summer.

“I am pleased with the performance as it was our first match of this tournament,” De Zerbi told reporters post-match.

“We are still working on our physical shape as a team, but overall this was a good first moment for us.

"We have a lot of players who are working to be part of this team and I think a lot of them showed that tonight.”

The Seagulls struck first in the 13th minute as Welbeck finished off Kaoru Mitoma’s header into the top of Kepa Arrizabelaga’s net.

Mitoma beat Chelsea full-back Malo Gusto in the air on a long ball to the back post, heading back across the Blues’ 18-yard box.

Welbeck’s one-time finish landed just under the crossbar, giving the Seagulls a 1-0 advantage.

“I think we had some good things in our game tonight, some good bits of play, and we were able to score a few goals,” midfielder Adam Lallana said.

“There’s still some things we have to improve on, but most importantly is that nobody suffered any knocks and everybody was able to get through the game. It’s good for us to build on.”

Chelsea tied things up though in the 19th minute after Christopher Nkunku guided home a rebound in the Brighton box. Carney Chukwuemeka’s original effort was blocked in the box, but Nkunku flicked the rebound past Jason Steele for a 1-1 scoreline.

Pascal Gross set up Welbeck at the top of the Chelsea box in the 42nd minute, but Kepa’s powerful two-handed save denied the Brighton forward a multi-goal performance.

De Zerbi made several halftime substitutions with Bart Verbruggen, Deniz Undav, Simon Adingra, and Joel Vetlman all coming on at the break. Joao Pedro, Yasin Ayari, Julio Enciso, and Steven Alzate all entered the match in the 55th minute as the squad rotation continued for both teams.

Chelsea began creating more opportunities against the Seagulls in the second half, and that eventually led to an ejection for Jan Paul van Hecke. Van Hecke’s tackle on second-half substitute Cesare Casadel led to Robert Jones giving the defender a second yellow card and forcing Brighton to 10 men.

Things went from bad to worse for Brighton in the 65th minute as Mykhailo Mudryk blasted the Blues in front 2-1. Nicolas Jackson and Mudryk connected on a pair of quick passing sequences before the Ukrainian international drilled a powerful shot into the bottom-left corner.

Mudryk extended Chelsea’s lead to 3-1 in the 72nd minute after Brighton failed to clear its box. Jackson kept possession alive for the Blues before Mudryk’s one-time finish nestled into the bottom-right corner past Verbruggen.

Jackson made it 4-1 to the Blues in the 76th minute after Marc Cucarella’s upfield pass was not dealt with by Imari Samuels. Jackson roofed his breakaway shot past Verbruggen to continue Chelsea’s strong second half.

Despite being down to ten men, Brighton did not lie down, as two second-half substitutes helped spring a late surge. Joao Pedro was hacked down by Levi Colwill in the 78th minute, allowing the Brazilian to step up and score into the bottom-right corner from the penalty spot.

Pedro continued his impressive cameo in the 90th minute by setting up Deniz Undav for his first goal of the summer. Pedro drove to the byline before cutting back a pass to the middle of the Chelsea box. Undav made no mistake by slotting home with ease.

A total of seven players aged 21-years or younger featured in the contest, providing an early test ahead of a busy domestic and European schedule this fall and beyond.

“It’s our policy for us to give our young players chances and it’s an honour to help them in their development,” De Zerbi said.

“We also had older players out there tonight like [Adam] Lallana, [Adam] Webster, and [Danny] Welbeck, who can all help these kids in their careers. We hope they will continue to play more minutes with us.”

Albion will next face Brentford at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, on Wednesday in their second match of the EPL Summer Series.