Premier League: Brighton 3 (Mitoma 27, Minteh 38, 63) Chelsea 0
Enzo Maresca must be sick of the sight of Kaoru Mitoma. A week after he sent them tumbling out of the FA Cup, a breathtaking piece of control from the Japan winger to score the opening goal set up another memorable victory for Brighton and piled more pressure on the Chelsea manager.
Three defeats in their last four matches and with Cole Palmer enduring a frustrating night as he laboured as a false 9, at times Maresca seemed lost on the touchline as he watched his side struggle to find a way back into the game after Yankuba Minteh had made it 2-0 before half-time. His second of the night killed off any hopes of a comeback and it could have turned into a Valentine’s Day massacre had Mitoma, João Pedro or Joël Veltman taken their chances late on.
With the chasing pack getting closer as Fabian Hürzeler’s side moved up to eighth and within six points of his expensively assembled squad, the Chelsea manager will be wondering where the next win is coming from.
Maresca had brushed off criticism from some supporters this week after saying that their exit from the FA Cup meant they could concentrate on the Premier League, insisting that qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 2022 would take the club back to where it “belongs”.
That task was only made harder by the news that Nicolas Jackson has been ruled out for at least six weeks, with the Chelsea manager selecting Palmer to lead the line and shifting Christopher Nkunku to a deeper role after promising he would change things up.
The decision to recall Filip Jörgensen in place of Robert Sánchez in goal meant the home fans had one fewer former player to boo. But they picked up where they had left off whenever Moisés Caicedo or, in particular, Marc Cucurella touched the ball.
It was no surprise to see Hürzeler name an almost unchanged line-up after their stirring comeback last week, with captain Lewis Dunk missing out due to a rib injury. The Brighton manager called on his players to improve their wretched recent home form that had seen them fail to win any of their last five league matches here, including defeats by Crystal Palace and Everton, if they are to stand any chance of qualifying for Europe next season and once again got the response he required.
The temperature was raised early on when Cucurella upended Minteh right in front of the dugouts and was lucky to escape a booking. After blazing over when he had an early sight of goal, Palmer’s next effort was even worse as it skewed way off target following a surging run down the right flank that proved to be the end of Noni Madueke’s evening. He limped off with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Jadon Sancho.
Brighton had shown only glimpses of their threat until that point and their breakthrough came from the most direct means possible. Bart Verbruggen – whose disastrous own goal last week gifted Chelsea the lead – picked out Mitoma with a raking pass and the Japan winger’s first touch as the ball dropped over his head was immaculate before he drifted past Trevoh Chalobah and curled the ball past Jörgensen with aplomb.
Chelsea – who ended the first half with 71 per cent possession but no shot on target – did have the ball in the net but the celebrations were cut short when Enzo Fernández was adjudged to have committed a foul. Instead it was the home fans who could not contain their joy when a haphazard Chelsea defence failed to deal with Georginio Rutter’s cross and Minteh kept his cool to slot home the second from close range after being set up by Danny Welbeck. “Can we play you every week?” they sang.
Maresca sent his players out early into the cold Sussex night for the second half but the break didn’t appear to have made much difference. Rutter should have done better when he was set up by Minteh and could only direct his shot well over. But Minteh made no such mistake when Levi Colwill gave the ball away cheaply and Welbeck again turned provider for Brighton’s third. Malo Gusto’s reward for playing him onside was to be hauled off for Reece James, while £115m signing Caicedo was greeted with chants of “what a waste of money” when he made way.
Mitoma could only fire straight at Jörgensen after a rapid break downfield as Brighton went for the jugular. The Chelsea goalkeeper was fortunate that substitute Pedro could not hit the target after intercepting a terrible pass out from the back before Veltman struck a post via Jörgensen’s face. The way things have been going for Maresca, he will be grateful for small mercies. – Guardian
