Chelsea suffered their second defeat in opposition to Brighton and Hove Albion in simply 5 days because the Seagulls secured a 3-0 win throughout the Premier League conflict on Friday night.
Having despatched the Blues packing out of the FA Cup, the south coast facet had been eager to say their first league win since a 3-1 victory over Manchester United final month.
Within the first half, targets from Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh set Brighton on their means, earlier than Minteh rounded off a powerful efficiency with one other effort within the second half.
The Stamford Bridge facet couldn’t get within the recreation, creating just one big chance all through the 90 minutes.
Chelsea’s finest and worst performers vs Brighton
Not many Chelsea gamers loved an excellent recreation. Levi Colwill did win eight of his nine complete duels whereas having fun with a 93% move success fee, but this was as spectacular because it acquired for the away facet.
Cole Palmer didn’t mild up the AMEX, managing simply two pictures, which had been each off track, together with failing to ship a single correct cross from 5 makes an attempt.
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Key statistics – Brighton vs Chelsea |
|
|---|---|
|
Metric |
Highest-Ranked |
|
Correct passes |
Levi Colwill (113) |
|
Floor duels gained |
Yankuba Minteh (10) |
|
Key passes |
Yankuba Minteh (3) |
|
Pictures on track |
Yankuba Minteh and Kaoru Mitoma (2) |
|
Tackles |
Yankuba Minteh and Carlos Baleba (5) |
Elsewhere, Marc Cucurella was dribbled previous twice and misplaced possession eight occasions in opposition to Brighton, whereas Moises Caicedo was taken off after 65 minutes for failing to affect the match in opposition to his former workforce.
Arguably, the worst performer was Pedro Neto, nonetheless, because the Portuguese winger supplied little or no within the closing third, on the left or the appropriate flank.
Pedro Neto’s recreation in numbers vs Brighton
Since becoming a member of from Wolves final summer time in a deal worth around £54m, however at this second in time, the Previous Gold actually seem to have gotten the higher finish of the deal.
The winger has scored simply four goals throughout the whole marketing campaign, which is hardly the kind of return to justify such an enormous switch price.
He was deployed on the left wing in opposition to the Seagulls, but struggled to create a lot going ahead. Certainly, Neto completed just 18 passes – 17 fewer than goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen – whereas lacking an enormous probability and making just one key move.
The previous Wolves man did try six dribbles throughout his time on the pitch, but might solely succeed with one. Moreover, he gained simply three of his 11 complete duels contested, misplaced possession 13 occasions, and didn’t get a shot on track earlier than he was subbed off after 65 minutes
A wasteful show certainly. Journalist Fraser Watson of the Categorical gave the 24-year-old a match rating of 4/10 for his show, stating that he ‘had an terrible night time. Misplaced possession in assault and lacked composure, twice firing wildly vast earlier than being hooked off’ throughout the tie.
Will Enzo Maresca drop him to the bench for the following Premier League match in opposition to Aston Villa subsequent weekend? Or shall he stick with the winger?
Chelsea have suffered a significant drop-off because the begin of 2025 and the supervisor will want his facet to enhance if he needs to safe a top-four end within the league, which is why the supervisor ought to react to this poor show by dropping him to the bench in opposition to the Villans.
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Chelsea had been condemned to a second loss within the house of per week on the AMEX Stadium.
