Here is the match report.
Potter's reaction
“We’re really pleased and proud of the performance. We gave Chelsea a good game and deserved our point. The performance was full of personality, courage and hard work, everything you’d want. The boys gave everything and it was a performance I really enjoyed.”
“Chelsea don’t give much away so you have to really earn everything. The only thing we could have done a little better was work their goalkeeper a little more. Other than that, there was everything.”
Tuchel's reaction
“We looked tired, and we are. It’s like this. We knew they were well prepared and they had more time and less games to prepare this match. At the end the stadium celebrated like a victory: that’s what you face. You need to be at full-strength to overcome these obstacles. No blame attached to the team.” Asked whether Chelsea are mentally and physically jaded, he says “Yes. The boys need some days off, there is no other solution.”
Asked about Ziyech’s subdued celebration of his goal, Tuchel says: “He can score 20 more and not celebrate, I have no problem with that” Then he returns to his main point: “Even in the reaction to the goal you can see that we were tired. We were relieved to score a goal but it wasn’t pure joy.”
“Observing the quality of Brighton’s performance, Graham Potter looks like the natural successor to Gareth Southgate,” opines Colum Fordham. “If only he could take over in time for Qatar, England might have a chance.”
Adam Webster’s verdict: “For the whole game we were the better team other than a spell towards the end ... On another day we would hopefully get three points.” About his headed goal from a corner, he says: “I had a couple at the weekend with which I should have done better so it was pleasing to get off the mark for the season today.”
Full-time: Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
It’s a fair result but that’s no good to Chelsea, who have now collected just two points from the last 12 available and can consider themselves title-race also-rans. They had very little spark here but took the lead here out of the blue thanks to a fierce strike by Ziyech. Brighton had most of the ball and were very nimble and clever, but they were blunt up front until Webster nutted the ball into the net from a corner by Mac Allister. The home crowd applaud their team off.
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90+2 min: Maupay hesitates when given a chance to shoot from 20 yards. The pause allows Silva to dash over to charge down his effort.
90+1 min: There will be at least three more minutes.
90 min: Alonso’s corner is cleared. Kovacic tries to blast the bouncing ball into the net from nearly 30 yards. Instead he finds someone in Row X.
88 min: Cucurella overhits a pass for Trossard, taking the momentum out of a rapid Brighton counter-attack.
86 min: Werner cuts infield from the right and then tries to curl a left-footer into the far corner. But Burn blocks.
84 min: Chelsea have injected serious urgency into their play but Brighton are holding firm while still looking to counter.
82 min: Rüdiger booked, seemingly for arguing with the referee about something as Chelsea get raedy to take the freekick. Alonso then steps up and drives the freekick straight into the wall.
81 min: Chelsea substitutions: Werner and Havertz on. Lukaku and Ziyech off.
80 min: Burn gets over-eager and tries to go through Ziyech to get the ball. Instead he gets a yellow card while Chelsea are given a freekick about 25 yards out, central.
78 min: Brighton are good and Chelsea are missing their two first-choice wingbacks: but Chelsea should still be better than they have been for most of this game, and recent games.
77 min: Brighton substitution: March on, Lamptey off after another excellent performance.
75 min: Lamptey robs Jorginho in midfield. Mac Allister sweeps a pass towards Maupay ... who again can’t sort out of his feet, otherwise he’d have been clean through on goal!
73 min: Lukaku makes a clever run. Rüdiger spots it and lifts a cute pass over the defence and into his path. Lukaku unloads a powerful left-foot shot at an angle from 10 yards. Sanches beats it behind.
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71 min: Webster - or is it Der Kaiser? - steps in to win possession no half-way and then strides forward, gathering pace as he glides past three opponents and into the right-hand side of the Chelsea box. He then lays the ball across the face of goal. Kepa pounces to prevent that turning into a memorable assist.
68 min: Trossand curls a pass across the face of goal, agonisingly beyond Maupay.
67 min: Maupay is taken by surprise by a pinged low cross from the right from Lamptey. If the striker had been able to adjust his feet quicker, he’d surely have turned the ball goalward from eight yards. Instead he donked it the wrong way.
66 min: Alonso thrashes a stinger just over the bar from 20 yards. Chelsea appear piqued to have given up a goal and are eager to get their lead back. But Brighton continue to have most of the ball.
63 min: Hudson-Odoi makes an incursion into the box Brighton box but his shot is charged down by Mac Allister.
62 min: Brighton substitutions: Trossard and Maupay on, Welbeck and Gross off.
GOAL! Brighton 1-1 Chelsea (Webster 60)
Webster finds space in the box with a clever run, meaning he does not even have to jump to head Mac Allister’s corner powerfully into the net from eight yards! Chelsea again fail to hold on to a lead.
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60 min: Another nice move by Brighton. Cucurella gets to the byline and cuts the ball back to Mac Allister, whoes shot from 16 yards isn’t struck well but is nearly deflected into the net. Kepa flings himself to his right to tip it wide!
59 min: Lamptey charges down a shot by Alonso and then begins hurtling downfield. Alonso chases back, and then shoves Lamptey to the ground near half-way. A well deserved yellow card.
58 min: Brighton are coming on strong. But still blunt.
55 min: Cucurella and Alzate combine well down the left. But Alzate’s low cross is cleared by the ubiquitous Silva.
53 min: Webster jumps to meet the corner ... with his chest, leaving Kepa with an easy save from eight yards.
52 min: Lamptey skins Alonson down the right, but Silva scoots across to put the ball out for a corner.
50 min: Mac Allister pings another visionary pass into the path of the ever-willing Welbeck. The striker races into the area but Silva keeps pace with him and eventually ushers him off the ball. Welbeck had no support, with nary a Brighton player within 30 yards of him.
48 min:A corner by Chelsea is cleared only as far as Ziyech at the edge of the area. He unwinds another powerful shot ... but Veltman charges it down.
46 min: Within 20 seconds of the restart, Gross slides a nifty ball through to Welbeck, racing on to it at the left-hand side of the box. The striker produces an awful finish, wafting the ball wide of the near post from 10 yards! Brighton can be so frustrating to watch.
46 min: As the players await to start the second half, Lukaku and Ziyech are still in talks about something or other.
“What was with the angry, pouting non-celebration by Ziyech?” asks JR in Illinois. “Is there some issue with him I’m unaware of or does he just think he’s some kind of tough guy? The way he played against Man City last weekend he’s lucky to be getting a game today.” Maybe he’s thinking he should be at the Afcon with Morocco, who’ve just finished top of their group by drawing with Gabon today? Mind you, when he came off the pitch at half-time, he and Lukaku seemed to be debating something quite seriously, possibly that loose pass that Lukaku complained about earlier.
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Half-time: Brighton 0-1 Chelsea
Lots of clever play by Brighton but Ziyech’s impeccably struck long-range goal is the difference between the teams at the break. Chelsea are just about doing what they need to do. Brighton probably need to get Maupay and Trossard on soon.
45+1 min: Gross delivers an out-swinging corner. Chelsea clear, and the ref blows for half-time.
44 min: Ziyech collects a long ball from the back. Then Hudson-Odio swaps clever passes with Lukaku ... and he’s in! But he blazes his shot way over from the edge of the box.
41 min: A beautiful spin in midfield by Ziyech, followed by an overhit pass intended for Lukaku, who has to chase it. He can’t retrieve it before it runs out of play, so he turns and upbraids Ziyech.
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38 min: Welbecks cuts in from the left .. but then bogs a shot way over.
36 min: After lots of pretty play by Brighton, Cucurella goes for the obvious route: a lofted cross to the back post .... where Lamptey awaits. He can’t reach it.
33 min: Silva heads away another teasing cross by Lamptey. Silva always seems to know where to be.
32 min: Silva pings a diagonal ball to Alonso, who traps it delicately and then thwacks it across the face of goal. Sanchez swats it awkwardly away.
31 min: Lamptey wins a freekick to the right of the Chelsea box. MacAllister curls in a fine delivery. Thiago Silva excels to head it away under pressure.
GOAL! Brighton 0-1 Chelsea (Ziyech 28)
A Chelsea goal out of the blue (or yellow)! Ziyech takes everyone - notably goalkeeper Sanchez - by surprise by receiving a pass from Kante and thrashing a low left-footed shot into the net from over 20 yards. Sanchez got a weak hand to it.
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26 min: Ziyech fails to get the ball under control after a searching pass from deep by Alonso. Chelsea really haven’t been fluent today. Whereas Brighton have been, but they’ve also been blunt. Welbeck illustrates that point by swishing at fresh air from a difficult angle after a cute pass over the top of the Chelsea defence.
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23 min: Panic in the Chelsea box as Welbeck meets a cross by Lamptey. It’s blocked by Thiago Silva but the ball bounces around the box. Moder has a shot blocked before scramble it clear.
22 min: lovely work by Lamptey! First he wins back the ball in his own box with a clever tackle on Hudson-Odoi. Then he bursts forward 40 yards to put Brighton on the attack after several minutes on the back foot.
20 min: In Africa Cup of Nations news, Comoros have just taken a 2-0 lead over Ghana!
18 min: Chelsea spend a good two minutes probing in the opposing half. But Brighton are well organised and refuse to give them even a glimpse of a route into the box.
16 min: Jorginho picks out Lukaku’s run into the right-hand channel. The striker collects the ball and lays it into the path of the underlapping Azpilicueta. The defender lets fly from the corner of the box. Sanchez bats it behind for a corner, which Veltman heads clear.
13 min: More splendid approach play by Brighton, but it’s betrayed by a wayward final pass from Cucurella.
11 min: Not sure Lukaku has touched the ball yet.
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10 min: Kepa hurtles off his line to beat Welbeck to the ball after a dainty reverse pass from Gross.
8 min: Chelsea pen Brighton back for a bit, without ever looking like penetrating. Most of the play so far has been between the two boxes. It’s cagey.
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6 min: Chelsea spend a moment in the Brighton half for the first time in the match. But it doesn’t last long because Ziyech dabs a weak cross straight to a defender, allowing Brighton to play their way out.
4 min: Thiago Silva seems to have strained something. He’s going to try to play on but his movement is the sort that the word ‘gingerly’ is reserved for.
3 min: Lovely interplay by Brighton! Welbeck, with his back to goal at the edge of the D, flicks a beautiful pass to Moder, who has a clear sight of goal from 18 yards. He pulls his low shot wide! Slack finishing, one of the stories of Brighton’s season.
2 min: Jorginho, Azpilicueta and Kepa play their way nimbly out of their own box despite feverish pressing by the hosts.
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1 min: Brighton v Chelsea is go!
“If Chelsea had been playing once a week then I’m sure they’d have been more consistent,” reckons Brendan Large. “The biggest misses I think are Chilwell and James. The last time those two played together was the Juventus game, which I would rate as one of Chelsea’s best in many years.”
To piped music from Fatboy Slim, the teams take to the pitch. Chelsea go first, in yellow tops, black shorts and yellow socks. Then come the hosts in their blue and white stripes.
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The managers have given their pre-match interviews. They needn’t have bothered, unless you needed to be told that each would like to win this match.
“Every game Tuchel changes the team,” howls Cicero Araujo. “It is difficult for the players and the fans, you never know which starting lineup they will have.” Sounds like someone has Kovacic in their fantasy team.
Teams
Brighton: Sanchez; Veltman, Webster, Brun; Lamptey, Gross, Alzate, Cucurella; Moder, Welbeck, MacAllister
Subs: Schierpen, McGill, Maupay, Trossard, March, Caicedo, Roberts , Leonard, Ferguson
Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Rudiger; Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Kanté, Alonso; Mount, Ziyech; Lukaku
Subs: Bettinelli, Hall, Sarr, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Saul, Havertz, Pulisic, Werner
Referee: K Friend
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to a match that may well matter more to Brighton than to Chelsea. After all, what have Chelsea got left to play for in the Premier League this season? The glory of finishing second rather than third, that’s what. Whereas Brighton have a live hope of qualifying for European competition for the first time in their history - and what better way to boost those prospects than by beating Chelsea in the league for the first time in their history? There’s only so long you can live off a 1933 FA Cup third-round win.
Graham Potter’s men came close to victory when the sides met a few weeks ago at Stamford Bridge, even if they only claimed a draw thanks to Danny Welbeck’s last-minute goal. Reece James got injured in that match and Chelsea haven’t won a league game since, their three-game winless streak dropping the hammer on their title chances. Brighton could add to their woe today. Or Chelsea could awake from their dozing. Or, like oh so many Brighton matches, it could be a draw. In other words, anything could happen. Come on!
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