Roberto De Zerbi reveals painful reason for emotional response after Brighton's win against Chelsea

It's was De Zerbi's first win as Brighton head coach and Graham Potter's first loss since he moved to Chelsea last month.

Potter returned to Sussex with six wins and three draws from his first nine fixtures at Stamford Bridge and looking to inflict further punishment on a Seagulls side who began the day with just two points from a possible 15 since his departure.

He received jeers – and a smattering of applause – when he stepped off the team coach, while there were further boos when he emerged from the tunnel.

Brighton fed off their fans’ hostile energy and quickly took control of the contest during a blistering start in which chants of “Potter, what’s the score?” grew louder, followed by playful questioning of his job security.

After the match, Potter insisted he had nothing to apologise for, having joined Brighton three seasons ago when they were fourth from bottom and left last month when they were fourth from top in the Premier League.

Potter looked a bit frazzled after the loss as he digested the defeat and the reaction from the Albion.

Fans were angry with the timing of his exit but it's fair to say that Potter took the brunt of the flak as Albion fans voiced their frustration that Chelsea were able to poach the entire management team and their player of the year Marc Cucurella, who also took plenty of stick from the home fans.

Chelsea remain in talks with Brighton's transfer expert Paul Winstanley but on the pitch, Albion's players were electric. They raced into a commanding half-time lead, with own goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah compounding Chelsea’s misery following Leandro Trossard’s early opener.

Kai Havertz pulled a goal back just after the restart but the visitors were unable to prevent a first defeat in 10 games since the sacking of Thomas Tuchel as Pascal Gross rubbed salt into the wound in added time.

It was moment the Brighton savoured as they moved by to seventh in the Premier League.

De Zerbi, who celebrated each goal with great emotion, said, “I am very happy for the players, the club and the people who work with the team and, of course, the great fans because they were the best players on the pitch – they helped us so much.”

“The first 20-25 minutes we were fantastic, in how we played with and without the ball. We played with an intensity I liked,” added De Zerbi.

“We got into so many one to ones, where [Kaoru] Mitoma and [Solly] March did well. Trossard was fantastic, so was [Adam] Lallana – I thought they were all outstanding.”

De Zerbi says his celebrations thrughout the will be more low key and was critical of himself for Chelsea’s goal.

"I won’t be celebrating too much, because next Saturday is another game and I made a mistake because they made a tactical change and I didn’t adapt," he added.

“But 4-1 against Chelsea is still an amazing result and I hope everyone enjoys it.”

Next up for Brighton is a trip to Wolves next Saturday. On Wednesday they go to Arsenal in the third round of the league cup and their final match before the break for the Qatar World Cup is at Aston Villa on November 13.