Chelsea were terrible against Brighton (Image: Getty Images)
Brighton beat the West Londoners 3-0, giving Chelsea their fifth successive Premier League defeat and putting further pressure on head coach Liam Rosenior. If there was any lingering doubt, it became absolutely clear that the traveling believers were now hostile to Rosenior, who found himself at the receiving end of hostile chants on the south coast. The Blues are in fifth place, seven points behind Liverpool, and their ambitions to finish in the top five appear to have all but disappeared after this painful setback. Brighton overtook Chelsea and dropped to seventh in the table.
The Seagulls scored early and broke the deadlock with four minutes remaining at Amex Stadium. Ferdi Kadioglu scored the first goal. Chelsea found themselves with a two-goal lead immediately after the restart. Jack Hinshelwood made up for a missed opportunity in the first half by slipping the ball past Sanchez to double Brighton’s lead. Danny Welbeck then added a third goal in stoppage time, making Chelsea’s misery even worse.
Express Sport rates the Blues as…
Chelsea player ratings
Robert Sanchez – 6
He made a brilliant save early on to deny Kaoru Mitoma, but Kadioglu’s shot deflected from a corner kick, giving him no chance. Another great stop around the 15th minute to deny Jan Paul van Hecke. It was a great start for Sanchez, but he almost made a disastrous error that Trevor Chalobah was thankful it didn’t result in Brighton’s second goal. There were some important saves, but he wasn’t very good with the ball at his feet.
He tried to cross the field many times, but the results were disastrous. Too often his crosses failed to clear the first player.
Kadioglu’s shot unfortunately deflected off to the Frenchman. Beyond that, the absolutely dismal display of Fofana, who does not deserve to be in the starting XI at the moment. Retired at the interval.
A clear on the goal line that was important to keep Sanchez from blushing. He’s one of Chelsea’s best performers, but that’s not exactly high praise.
He is Chelsea’s only player in decent form, and it was clear once again. Just before the break, Hato had a great moment sliding to steal the ball, but unfortunately he was prevented from jumping forward. However, a few moments of uncertainty slightly soften his assessment.
Danny Welbeck’s late third goal spells disaster for Chelsea. (Image: Getty Images)
Like many of the Black and White players, he lacked composure in possession. For the past few weeks, a pale replica of myself has appeared.
See above. His performance has dropped dramatically with this horrible string of results the Blues are in. They lost their footing for the second goal when more composure was needed.
It was too easily bypassed. It remains difficult to pinpoint what he brings to this Chelsea side at the moment.
The Argentine played in a more forward position, essentially playing against a striker on the south coast. It has no effect. He was unable to influence the case as much as he had hoped.
His confidence seemed dashed at times. There was still room for improvement in his decision-making. He retreated far too often, whether instructed to do so or not.
substitute
Liam Delap – 4
Again, received virtually no service. When he gets on the ball, it’s unconvincing. 4
Alejandro Garnacho (Fofana 46 minutes) – 6
bright. He looked like a rare threat for the Blues in the final third. 6
Dario Essugo (for Lavia 71′) – N/A
I can’t leave an impression. Tough conditions for participating in the battle.
Marc Giu (played in the 71st minute of Delap) – N/A
See above. He produced a strike, but it was narrowly missed due to a deflection.
Josh Acheampong (played in Gusto 92′) – N/A
