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1 week ago
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The rumblings of discontent at Chelsea grow louder. The frustration from the Stamford Bridge crowd was audible as they watched their team lose at home in the Premier League for the first time since last December. Enzo Maresca’s substitutions came under the spotlight again and Chelsea, who are facing a defensive crisis before hosting Liverpool next weekend, were in a giving mood during this 3-1 defeat to Brighton.
It was sweet for Brighton, given how many players and executives have swapped the south coast for west London during the past three years. The celebrations were wild when Danny Welbeck’s second goal of the afternoon wrapped up the points deep into added time.
Chelsea were in control at half-time, Enzo Fernandez giving them the lead, only for the complexion of the game to change when Trevoh Chalobah was sent off early in the second half. In the end there were boos. Brighton, victorious over Chelsea in three consecutive games, pushed for a winner after Welbeck equalised. They led 2-1 when more of Fabian Hürzeler’s substitutes combined, Matts Wiefer Wieffer heading across for Maxim De Cuyper to score from close range.
Building on winning the Club World Cup has been harder than Maresca would have anticipated. Chelsea, who have taken one point since the international break, have been waiting to hit top speed and have been stretched by injuries. Cole Palmer is out for at least three weeks, sidelined by a persistent groin problem, while Maresca’s well publicised concerns about his defensive options were exacerbated when he lost Tosin Adarabioyo and Wesley Fofana to injury before this game.
Maresca had to use his deep squad. Jorrel Hato, the 19-year-old Dutch centre-back, joined Chalobah in central defence, and there was also a first Premier League start for Santos, whose initial drive in midfield was central to Chelsea’s early dominance.
It was not a surprise when they led after 24 minutes. Brighton were too open. There was little conviction to their play during the first half, summed up by nobody stopping Moisés Caicedo when the midfielder instigated the move for Chelsea’s opener.
It felt very simple when Caicedo cut Brighton open with a slide-rule pass down the right. Reece James was away, and when the captain’s cross flicked off Kaoru Mitoma the ball looped invitingly towards Fernandez, who was in the right place to nod home his third goal of the season after ghosting unnoticed into the box.
Chelsea, whose starting 11 contained four former Brighton players, deserved to be ahead. They had already threatened through free-kicks from James and Fernandez, Bart Verbruggen denying both with fine saves, and had enjoyed Estêvão’s efforts on the right. The teenager embarrassed Ferdi Kadioglu with one dainty turn and was later denied a goal by Jan Paul van Hecke, the Brighton defender coming to the rescue after Carlos Baleba was caught in possession in a dangerous position.
Baleba, criticised by Hürzeler after last week’s draw with Tottenham, was not alone in struggling for the visitors. Brighton were hopeless during the first half. The only spark came from Yankuba Minteh on the right but he could not do it all on his own.
Chelsea were waiting to give him a helping hand. The momentum shifted when James stayed down after jarring his knee at the start of the second half. The right-back went off for treatment and Chelsea’s failure to reorganise resulted in a mix up, Santos inadvertently poking the ball to Diego Gómez, who was through on goal and just outside the area when he was brought down by Chalobah.
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Simon Hooper, the on-pitch referee, was having such a bad game that it required him to check the pitchside monitor to confirm that Chalobah had denied a goalscoring opportunity and had to be sent off. Down to 10 men for the second consecutive week, Chelsea had to dig deep. Maresca made changes. Estêvão and Santos were sacrificed as defensive reinforcements arrived, Josh Acheampong and Malo Gusto coming on.
Brighton remained aimless. Hürzeler responded by bringing on Danny Welbeck and Brajan Gruda. The pressure grew. Georginio Rutter fashioned an opening for Minteh, who poked wide. Welbeck then fired narrowly wide. He should have scored.
Welbeck kept going. He is too experienced to let one miss affect him. Brighton soon pressed again. Minteh moved to the left, dribbled past Gusto in the 77th minute and slammed in a cross for Welbeck to head past Robert Sanchez.
Maresca’s changes had left Chelsea with few attacking outlets. There was grumbling in the stands when Neto went off for Romeo Lavia. Brighton had time for a winner. They appealed for a penalty when Gusto caught Minteh with a high boot. The decision went Chelsea’s way this time. Not much else did. De Cuyper’s header made it 2-1 and it was all over when Welbeck, dancing in from the left, lifted a shot over Sanchez.
