CHELSEA were architects of their own downfall once again as they were beaten 3-1 by Brighton at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues, who started FOUR ex-Brighton players in this game, opened the scoring through Enzo Fernandez, with a header from close range after a deflected Reece James cross.
Joao Pedro looks on in Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Brighton[/caption]
But Trevoh Chalobah was given his marching orders following a clumsy challenge on Diego Gomez, seeing Chelsea play with ten men for the second Premier League game in a row.
Brighton capitalised on the advantage with Danny Welbeck grabbing a double in between Maxim De Cuyper’s goal off the bench.
Here is how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated Chelsea’s flops from Stamford Bridge.
ROBERT SANCHEZ – 5
The goalkeeper was fortunate in the first half to be let off after a shaky pass out from the back found the feet of a Brighton attacker, with Chelsea fans not feeling overly forgiving after his mistake in Manchester last weekend.
Couldn’t do a lot to deny Danny Welbeck twice from close range, or Maxim De Cuyper, but at least managed to stay on the pitch for the duration and didn’t make many massively silly mistakes.
Reece James assisted Enzo Fernandez’s opener[/caption]
REECE JAMES – 8
Came close to opening the scoring in the first ten minutes with a free-kick that looked destined for the top corner, only to be denied by the goalkeeper.
Chelsea need to be doing whatever they can to ensure James plays as an overlapping right back, his preferred position, because his cross for the opener signifies the kind of threat he poses to any opposition.
A great display going forward and defensively by the Chelsea captain, who dominated Karou Mitoma throughout and will feel hard done by the result.
TREVOH CHALOBAH – 3
A new-look Trevoh Chalobah shaved his head, and played like a new man to match… In the first half…
The centre back has had a rough few weeks in a Chelsea shirt, against Brentford, Bayern and Man Utd, and was good today until he was given his marching orders.
Unfortunately for him, a clumsy challenge saw him get a red card early in the second half after fouling last-man Diego Gomez and ultimately cost his team the game.
Trevoh Chalobah was shown red[/caption]
JORREL HATO – 7
Preferred to Josh Acheampong at centre-back by Enzo Maresca, the defender was impressive playing the ball out from the back.
He was really solid defensively, especially for someone so young and new to the league, with several good challenges up against a tricky and incisive Brighton front line.
It showed that this was his position for Ajax, as he looked like a different player to the inverted full-back we saw against Brentford a few weeks ago.
MARC CUCURELLA – 7
Being heavily booed and called unsanitary names is second nature to Marc Cucurella by now, so getting it from supporters of his old club didn’t put him off his game.
A threat on the attack for Chelsea, he showed more than anything the solidity of his defensive game today, forcing Minteh to switch sides and move to the left wing.
ANDREY SANTOS – 4
After a good first half in which he looked like the excellent midfielder we saw on loan at Strasbourg last season – it looked as though this would be a coming of age performance from the Brazilian.
However, he was also a culprit, perhaps as much as Chalobah, for the Blues going down to ten men.
His clumsy pass while being knocked to the ground was a sign of inexperience, and led to Chalobah being sent off, which is ultimately what drags his rating down.
MOISES CAICEDO – 7
His pass for Chelsea’s opening goal will go under the radar, but it was as incisive as they come.
Dominant in midfield against his former club for the most part, his sliding tackles were excellent as always and his ability on the ball was crystal clear for all to see.
If Brighton are the Seagulls, Moises Caicedo was a hawk waiting to prey on them – he deserved better.
Estevao struggled to get into the game[/caption]
ESTEVAO – 6
A nutmeg on Ferdi Kadioglu and driving run down the right side had Stamford Bridge on their feet early on, and willing the Brazilian to score his first Premier League goal for the Blues, though that didn’t materialise.
Faded in the second half as the game progressed, as Chelsea became less dominant with ten men on the pitch, before being substituted for Malo Gusto.
ENZO FERNANDEZ – 6
After a few poor performances, Enzo Fernandez shushed the haters (and the Brighton fans) after he opened the scoring with a header at Stamford Bridge.
The Argentine midfielder needed a moment like that, with fans calling for the £105m man to be benched, and reminded everyone of his quality with the goal.
He faded in the second half, though, as did most Chelsea players, and looked well off the pace in what was very much a performance of two halves.
PEDRO NETO – 4
His tireless hard work down the left side can never be faulted, as he consistently tormented Joel Veltman at right-back for Brighton with plenty of running.
But, as has been the story of Pedro Neto at Chelsea so far, his lack of end product let him down, with too many shots faltering wide or being blocked by an opposition defender, and a lack of real threat on the left.
Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho will be eyeing up his starting role if goal contributions don’t start coming soon.
JOAO PEDRO – 5
After such an illustrious start to life at Stamford Bridge, Joao Pedro looks a little tired and worn out since returning from a gruelling international break with Brazil.
Playing with 10 men won’t be helping matters, as Chelsea have for one and a half of the last two Premier League matches.
The forward linked up well with his attacking cohort in the first half, but seemed to struggle in the second when Brighton got on top of things – his defensive work will have been appreciated by Enzo Maresca at least.
SUBS:
JOSH ACHEAMPONG (SANTOS, 54′) – 4
The talented young defender was thrown into the fire after Trevoh Chalobah’s red card, and got burned.
He struggled under immense pressure from the Brighton attack, and wasn’t able to display any of his best qualities.
Danny Welbeck knew how to take advantage of two young centre-halves.
MALO GUSTO (ESTEVAO, 63′) – 2
Wow, that was bad.
Got beaten far too easily by Yankuba Minteh on many occasions, most notably for Brighton’s equalising goal, and he was fortunate to escape giving away a penalty for a high challenge on Minteh towards the end of the game.
Reece James was streets ahead of him in the right-back position when he played there.
ROMEO LAVIA (NETO, 79′) – N/A
Returned to action for the first time since Chelsea played Benfica in the Club World Cup, and was hardly able to impact the game at all.
BENOIT BADIASHILE (HATO 79′) – N/A
Returned to action for the first time since Chelsea played Benfica in the Club World Cup, and was hardly able to impact the game at all.
Didn’t do anything massively wrong, but Chelsea didn’t look a better side defensively when he came on either.
