Teenage midfielder Lexi Potter scored her first Chelsea goal on her first Women's Super League start to help the newly crowned Women's League Cup champions defeat Brighton 2-1 at Kingsmeadow.

Alyssa Thompson's early opener for the reigning English champions was cancelled out by Carla Camacho, before 19-year-old academy graduate Potter struck the winning goal for the home side before the interval.

Potter, who became the youngest female player in England to sign a professional football contract in 2023 when she was 17, was a late substitute in Sunday's 2-0 win against Manchester United in the cup final.

Brighton made a bright start with Camacho carving out two chances inside the opening 10 minutes but her close‑range effort was blocked by Veerle Buurman before she fired into the side‑netting.

But, as so often is the case with Chelsea, they needed only one chance to punish their opponents as Thompson met Sandy Baltimore's cross with a thumping header to put the Blues in front in the 13th minute.

Brighton hit back just four minutes later as Camacho's strike from outside the box took a deflection off Lucy Bronze to creep past Hannah Hampton - a first WSL goal for the Spanish forward who signed last summer.

But another Baltimore cross in the 39th minute created a pinball effect in the Brighton box and this time it was Potter who pounced with a precise finish to the right corner, making her first league start even more special with what proved to be the winner on her side's return to WSL action.

"I will be honest I am not surprised because I see her in training every day," said Potter's Chelsea team-mate and two-time Euros winner Keira Walsh.

"She has waited a long time for this but more than deserves it. She is an incredible player and has got a bright future ahead of her."

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor added: "She works so hard and has got great mentality too. It will give her great confidence going into the upcoming games."

With five games remaining, Chelsea climbed to second and are seven points behind leaders Manchester City with 36 points while Brighton remain eighth on 17 points.

Chelsea won their first silverware of the season at the weekend and are alive both in the FA Cup and the Champions League as well.

But one place where their race seems to have run is the WSL with Andree Jeglertz's City in a commanding position to dislodge the reigning champions off their perch.

But entering the final weeks, there is still plenty at stake on the league front for Bompastor and her players with the two Champions League spots up for grabs between them, Arsenal and United.

The win against Brighton, which came on an evening when United dropped points at West Ham, helped them move one point clear of the Red Devils and four ahead of Arsenal, who have two games in hand.

Regardless, this result was important not only for what it did to the standings, but also for the manner in which it was achieved.

Bompastor fielded Chelsea's youngest WSL starting line-up of the season with an average age of 24 years and 145 days as she looked to freshen things up in the middle of a demanding run of fixtures.

"To play with a young team is quite pleasant," Bompastor said.

"I like to develop young players having been part of the Lyon academy for eight years. It also shows that youngsters can contribute to Chelsea's results and perform when called up."

It was Potter who stole the headlines with the winner but the England Under-23 international was also joined on the scoresheet by 21-year-old Thompson and in the starting line-up by 19-year-old Veerle Buurman.

Chloe Sarwie, 17, made a late cameo while 16-year-old Gabriella Storey and Lois Shooter, 18, were also on the bench.

With a three-way fight for Champions League qualification, an all-English quarter-final tie against Arsenal in Europe and possible a deep run in the FA Cup too to tackle in the closing weeks, these are promising signs for Bompastor as their challenging campaign enters its defining stretch.

Brighton, meanwhile, could have been forgiven for being rusty on their trip to the capital - it was their first WSL match since a 3-2 defeat by West Ham on 8 February.

It was also Dario Vidosic's first WSL game in charge since the death of his father Rado, who was also the Brighton women's and girls' head of coaching, in January.

But Albion, who were without the trio of Charlie Rule, Kiko Seike and Moeka Minami away on Asian Cup duty, made a bright start in west London.

They showed plenty of character to bounce back immediately after going behind and gave the champions plenty of problems in the closing stages, threatening to steal a point off the hosts.

But it was a third consecutive defeat by a one-goal margin for Vidosic's side who will hope to return to winning ways soon.

Chelsea will next face London City Lionesses in an away game on Saturday, 21 March (12:00 GMT) before an all-English Champions League quarter-final first leg at Arsenal on Tuesday, 24 March (20:00).

Brighton, meanwhile, welcome Liverpool to Broadfield Stadium on Sunday, 22 March (12:00).