West Brom 2 Chelsea 3
Pedro scored on his Chelsea debut as they won at The Hawthorns, where John Terry was sent off and Thibaut Courtois saved a penalty.
Diego Costa and Cesar Azpilicueta also scored for the Blues, who played most of the second half with 10 men after Terry was shown a straight red card for a foul on Salomon Rondon.
James Morrison, whose 14th-minute spot-kick was blocked by keeper Courtois, went on to score twice.
He pulled a goal back for West Brom after goals from Pedro and Costa, and he headed in to make it 3-2 shortly after Terry was dismissed, perhaps harshly, after the defender prevented Rondon from racing through on goal.
It compounded a miserable week for the Chelsea captain, who was substituted at half-time at Manchester City last Sunday, leading to speculation over whether he would even make the starting line-up this weekend.
Courtois, back from suspension, kept out Morrison’s penalty with his legs after Nemanja Matic had fouled Callum McManaman.
Six minutes later, Pedro marked his first appearance in English football with a goal.
The Spain international, signed from Barcelona this week, exchanged passes with Eden Hazard before seeing his shot take a deflection of Albion’s Jonas Olsson and spin into the corner of the net.
Pedro was involved in the second goal, collecting Willian’s ball down the right and then firing across goal for Costa to add the finishing touch.
Chelsea appeared to be cruising but Morrison then atoned for his earlier miss by reducing the deficit.
Once again Branislav Ivanovic, who has been poor so far this season, was at fault.
Chris Brunt sent in a deep cross from the left which Rondon kept in play by acrobatically volleying the ball back from the byeline, and Morrison fired home.
Chelsea remained a threat and Willian missed a good chance to make it 3-1 before Azpilicueta netted a couple of minutes before the break.
Cesc Fabregas chipped forward and Costa held off Gareth MacAuley to chest the ball down to Azpilicueta, whose first-time shot flew into the bottom left-hand corner – his first Premier League goal.
The wet conditions made Chelsea’s assignment tricky enough, but they were forced to battle even harder for the points after Terry’s exit nine minutes into the second half.
Morrison scored just before the hour mark with a flicked header from McManaman’s left-wing cross.
But Chelsea were able to hang on for their first league win of the season.
This post was last modified on 24/08/2015