An impressive debut from Pedro helped Chelsea to record a 3-2 victory away at West Bromwich Albion this afternoon.

The signing from Barcelona opened the scoring at The Hawthorns, before he went on to assist Diego Costa. Left-back Cesar Azpilicueta added Chelsea's third goal before the break, while James Morrison, who had missed a penalty when the score was level at 0-0, pulled one back for the Baggies.

Visiting skipper John Terry was then red carded shortly after the restart as the drama continued and despite Morrison scoring his second goal of the game just before the hour mark, the Blues held out to record their first win of the season.

Here, Sports Mole has looked back over the contest to determine if the result was a fair one, or whether the hosting Baggies could justifiably argue that their display was deserving of a share of the spoils.

Match statistics

WEST BROM
Shots: 15
On target: 6
Possession: 44%
Corners: 8
Fouls: 9

CHELSEA
Shots: 15
On target: 5
Possession: 56%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 12

Was the result fair?

Statistics can often be misleading, but those ones above just about sum this encounter up. Had West Brom scored an equalising goal, it would have been very difficult to begrudge them - that's how close proceedings were. They will look back on Morrison's failure to convert the penalty, while a couple of good chances were not converted when they perhaps should have been.

Taking that into consideration, a draw would have probably been the fairest of outcomes, but Chelsea deserve credit for the fact that they ground out the victory. Losing their captain was not an easy thing to contend with, but they negotiated their way through the remaining 30 minutes of the contest relatively well.

West Brom's performance

Tony Pulis was the first to hold his hands up and admit that he got his tactics wrong when his side played host to Manchester City a fortnight ago. In that game, Pulis went with Rickie Lambert and Saido Berahino up front, but while there is nothing wrong with having a positive approach, the Baggies were badly overrun in midfield and ended up being well beaten by one of the title contenders.

Today, he reverted to a more Pulis-esque 4-5-1 formation, with club-record signing Salomon Rondon getting the nod up front. The result was a much more compact performance, even though West Brom trailed 2-0 and then 3-1 at different stages.

In an attacking sense, Callum McManaman and James McClean offered some decent width and an attacking threat, with the likes of Darren Fletcher and Claudio Yacob working tirelessly in midfield. Pulis will obviously not look upon the defeat positively, but if his side can repeat this display in upcoming fixtures, that first victory should not be too far away.

Chelsea's performance

After last weekend's miserable outing at the Etihad Stadium, there was at least some positives for Jose Mourinho to reflect on when he watches this game back. Debutant Pedro caught the eye with his movement, pace and direct approach, while Costa was more interested in playing football than fighting, which made him a threat.

But, while there were reasons to be cheerful, it could also be a sleepless night for Mourinho as he tries to work out why his team - once famed for being so tight defensively - look like they are going to concede a goal every time that the opposition attacks. Firstly, the sending off of the captain - whether it was the right decision or not - once again exposed his lack of pace, which is why Mourinho replaced him at Manchester City and is also known to be keen to sign John Stones.

The defenders will of course cop a lot of the blame for having shipped seven goals in three games and there can be no denying that the likes of Branislav Ivanovic and Azpilicueta were a little off-colour once again. Yet, the showings produced by Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas in front of the rearguard should also be noted. Matic has struggled to dominate the midfield battle, while today Fabregas gave the ball away more than any other player on the pitch, which puts added pressure on to what is an already shaky defence.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Callum McManaman: When you pick up the newspaper tomorrow morning, it will be jam-packed with news of Pedro's exploits and that is more than understandable. But, while he faded slightly in the closing stages, West Brom winger McManaman was a constant threat on both flanks. He won his side a penalty and then assisted the second goal with a teasing cross to cap a very good display from the former Wigan Athletic man.

Biggest gaffe

It has been a tough season for Matic so far and that continued today when he gave away what was a needless penalty. McManaman's touch was on the heavy side and was taking him outside of the area, but before he could reach the ball, he was inexplicably brought down by Chelsea's holding midfielder. Thibaut Courtois came to the rescue when he saved the resultant spot kick, but it was a rather red-faced moment for the Serbian.

Referee performance

The big decision for Mark Clattenburg centred around Terry, who was adamant that he had made no contact with Rondon as the West Brom striker bore down on goal. Even with the advantage of having television replays, it was still difficult to judge and due to the fact that it looked clumsy from the Chelsea captain, the red card was understandable. Aside from that, Clattenburg allowed the game to flow, which helped to make it the interesting spectacle that it was.

What next?

West Brom: The Baggies will be on the road next Saturday when they travel to the Britannia Stadium to take on Stoke City.

Chelsea: As for the Blues, it will be a London derby at Stamford Bridge as they face Crystal Palace.