Brighton & Hove Albion produced a dramatic comeback to beat Chelsea 3-1, stealing all 3-point at the Stamford Bridge. Substitute Danny Welbeck was the hero, scoring a second half brace — the last coming in the injury time — to complete the comeback.
Enzo Fernandez’s header had given them a deserved lead midway through the opening 45 minutes, but Brighton was brought back into the game in the second half.
Dramatic turnaround
Chelsea were reduced to 10 men in the 53rd minutes after Trevoh Chalobah was shown a red card for a professional foul on Diego Gomez. The red card proved costly for Chelsea, providing ground for Brighton to start the dramatic comeback.
For the second time in successive league game, Chelsea was left looking for answers following a red card. The red card changed the game for the Blues.
Brighton thought they were going to be denied the chance of a famous win in west London when they were denied a penalty after Malo Gusto’s boot appeared to make contact with Yankuba Minteh’s head inside the penalty area.
However, they were able bring themselves back to the game with successive goals from Welbeck and Maxime De Cuyper.
Enzo Maresca’s young side couldn’t see the game out as they were beaten for the first time in 12 games in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge. They are now without a win in three games in the league and have only one win from their last five games in all competitions.
Chelsea are currently in 8th on the log with 8 points, while Brighton is 10th with same 8 points.
Lineups
Chelsea: Sanchez, James, Chalobah, Hato, Cucurella, Andrey Santos, Caicedo, Estevao, Enzo, Pedro Neto, Joao Pedro.
Brighton: Verbruggen, Veltman, Dunk, Van Hecke, Kadioglu, Baleba, Gomez, Ayari, Minteh, Georginio, Mitoma.
Prior to the kick-off, Brighton have won the last two encounter, exerting dominance in the tie.
Chelsea will face Benfica in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, September 30, by 19:00 GMT.
