Nicolas Jackson silenced his Chelsea detractors with the winning goal against high-flying Brighton in the Carabao Cup.
The Senegalese forward has faced mounting criticism since his £31.8million summer transfer from Villarreal, but issued a firm riposte to the naysayers by guiding Mauricio Pochettino’s struggling side into the fourth round at Stamford Bridge.
Jackson struck the only goal of Wednesday’s somewhat scrappy game five minutes after half-time to ease the early pressure on manager Pochettino after a superb assist from fellow new signing Cole Palmer, who enjoyed an impressive full debut for Chelsea after his own summer switch from Manchester City.
The duo quickly linked up again for what they thought was a game-clinching second, only to be cruelly denied by the offside flag.
It wasn’t pretty by any means, but Chelsea managed to hold on and see out only their third victory in eight matches across all competitions so far this term having ended a concerning goal drought that had almost reached 350 minutes in total after three consecutive shutouts in the league before Jackson’s second strike of the season.
Only a second domestic defeat of the campaign to date for Roberto De Zerbi’s soaring Seagulls against the team who have taken so many of their prized assets over the past 12 months will sting, particularly after Lesley Ugochukwu - already on a yellow - somehow avoided a red card for a poor challenge on Carlos Baleba on the stroke of half-time.
