Brighton's victory over the Blues lifts De Zerbi's Seagulls to the seventh spot, while Chelsea remain fifth in the English top-flight table following their first defeat of Potter's era.
After saying he wasn't worried about the reaction at the Amex, Potter endured a nightmare return at Brighton.
Graham Potter tolerated a nightmare return to Amex Stadium as his former side Brighton and Hove Albion thrashed his Chelsea side 4-1 to claim their first victory under new manager Roberto de Zerbi.
The Chelsea manager, Potter, admitted the scoreline and defeat on the south coast in Sussex ‘is a painful one’ as his Blues remain in the 5th spot in the Premier League table following their first loss under the Englishman.
The west London club started the game poorly as Leandro Trossard calmly broke the deadlock in the 5th minute after Brazil defender Thiago Silva - who cleared the ball off the goalline twice to deny the Seagulls - gave away possession cheaply.
Then two own-goals from midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek and defender Trevor Chalobah made it 3-0 to the hosts before the break.
Kai Havertz pulled one back for Chelsea as the German nodded in a superb cross from Conor Gallagher three minutes into the second half.
It looked like Chelsea were set for a comeback but that failed to occur as Brighton sat back, defended well, and played on the counter.
The move eventually paid off for Brighton when Pascal Gross piled more misery on Potter and his players with a close-range finish late in stoppage time.
'The defeat is a painful one.'
"Yes of course the scoreline and the defeat is a painful one," the Chelsea boss Potter said after the match as BBC Sport quoted. "We didn't really recover. Once the crowd were so engaged it was a difficult one for us. The scoreline was painful. Brighton played a good game, especially in the first half.
"You can always look at goals and think you can do better. We have to take responsibility a bit in the first half. We have had a lot of football but that's no excuse. We couldn't quite get to that level. We didn't take our opportunities in attack and they did.
"We had some opportunities to attack them too but unfortunately we missed the pass or didn't execute, then the scoreline was a painful one. When you lose you can always do better."
When quizzed about the boos from the Brighton fans, the 47-year-old replied: "I have nothing to apologise or say sorry for. I think I did a good job at the club and left it in a good place but people are entitled to their opinions.
"It's part of the process. You have to suffer and feel pain in order to grow and get better. Nobody said we were the finished article. We have to take the pain today and learn from it."
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