Brighton defeated hapless Chelsea 3-0 as Japan forward Kaoru Mitoma produced a contender for Premier League goal of the season and Yankuba Minteh bagged a brace on Friday.
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea side delivered one of their worst performances of the season in their second defeat in the space of seven days at the Amex Stadium.
Mitoma scored the winner when Brighton knocked Chelsea out of the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-1 victory last weekend.
He tormented the Blues again with a breathtaking piece of skill in the first half before Gambia winger Minteh netted either side of the interval.
Maresca, in his first season in charge after arriving from Leicester, said this week that Chelsea “belong” in the Champions League, with the club setting him the target of qualifying within two years.
But Chelsea’s third defeat in their last four games in all competitions was another blow to their hopes of finishing in the top four.
Maresca will have to find a solution to Chelsea’s chronically error-prone defence if the fourth-placed Blues, two points ahead of Manchester City and Newcastle, are to achieve their target this term.
Thrashed 7-0 at Nottingham Forest in their previous league game, Brighton had won only two of their previous 12 top-flight matches.
The Seagulls have got back on track at Chelsea’s expense with a pair of impressive wins.
Christopher Nkunku made only his sixth league start since arriving at Chelsea in 2023, featuring in the absence of Nicolas Jackson, who is out for up to eight weeks with a hamstring injury.
Maresca had considered altering Chelsea’s style of play in a bid to get the best out of the misfiring Nkunku and deployed him on the flanks rather than in the central striker’s role occupied by Cole Palmer.
Palmer out of sorts
After beginning the season with six goals in his first seven league games, Palmer had netted eight times, two from the penalty spot, in the following 17 matches in the competition.
Chelsea had slipped from early title contenders to top four hopefuls since Palmer’s red-hot start turned colder.
Palmer again looked out of sorts on the south-coast as he blazed over from the edge of the area, then scuffed wide from Noni Madueke’s cross.
Madueke limped off injured moments later to add to Chelsea’s growing injury woes.
There was worse to come for Maresca in the 27th minute as Brighton took the lead in eye-catching fashion.
Bart Verbruggen’s long goal-kick was superbly controlled by Mitoma with a remarkably deft touch as it dropped over his shoulder.
That was just the start of Mitoma’s magical moment as he adroitly rolled the ball away from Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah and planted a fine low finish into the far corner from the edge of the area.
Chelsea threatened an immediate equaliser but Enzo Fernandez’s header from Malo Gusto’s cross was ruled out for the midfielder’s blatant push.
Even that near miss was a false dawn for Chelsea as Brighton struck again in the 38th minute.
Conceding possession deep into their own half, sloppy Chelsea were unable to recover as Danny Welbeck teed up Minteh, who evaded Marc Cucurella before drilling home from close-range.
Maresca’s men were in disarray at the back and Brighton made it three in the 63rd minute.
After Chelsea appealed in vain for a foul on Levi Colwill by Welbeck, the forward found Minteh and he danced past Cucurella to score with a fierce strike from eight yards.
AFP
