That’s all from me. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your emails. Thank you to Kaoru Mitoma for providing one of the moments of the season. Good night!
Updated
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca speaks:
My frustration was about everything. We feel sorry for the fans that came. In the position that we are, arriving with 14 games to go, we need to do much better. In terms of possession, we did that, but we didn’t find different solutions. We arrived well to the edge of the box, but then … [Maresca shrugs].
Now is the moment we need to stick together. I always feel pressure but this was the worst performance since I arrived. We are still fourth and still in the race to finish well.
Danny Welbeck, Brighton’s captain tonight with two assists, is asked about the rivalry between the Seagulls and Chelsea, which has heightened with so many Brighton players and staff moving to the London club in recent years.
We feel it in the dressing room. A lot of stuff has happened, a lot of comings and goings, between the clubs. It all comes from the fans. They feel it.
Mitoma’s got the ability to play for one of the top teams. He’s so professional, always willing to improve, and he does it week-in, week out.
Brighton’s Verbruggen, who set up Mitoma’s goal with a long ball (the fifth different goalkeeper to assist a Premier League goal this season after Ederson, Flekken, Pickford, and Leno; the most in a single campaign since 2010-11), speaks to the cameras:
We train it on the training pitch in behind. I saw the space behind, he took an unbelievable touch and a great finish. A big credit to the boys tonight for the compactness and the energy. We needed to show a reaction [after Nottingham Forest].
Minteh, Brighton’s two-goal hero, is also interviewed:
Everybody has treated me like I am a brother here. Everything is going well. We are dreaming of Europe. It will come one day.
Updated
A stat from Opta: despite averaging just under 70% possession, Chelsea failed to register a shot on target in a Premier League game for the first time since September 2021 (v Manchester City).
I see that in tonight’s only Championship game, QPR have battered Derby County 4-0 in John Eustace’s first game in charge of the Rams. Hope he’s OK!
Ed Aarons' match report from the Amex
Chelsea had 1 shot on target over 2 full games against Brighton, who conceded 7 goals against Nottingham Forest in their previous match.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) February 14, 2025
This is what the result does to the table. Both Manchester City and Newcastle could now go fourth by the end of the weekend. Brighton, meanwhile, are up to eighth. If Champions League qualification is awarded to fifth place this season, Brighton are still not out of it.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 24 | 35 | 57 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 24 | 27 | 50 |
| 3 | Nottm Forest | 24 | 13 | 47 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 25 | 13 | 43 |
| 5 | Man City | 24 | 13 | 41 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 24 | 13 | 41 |
| 7 | AFC Bournemouth | 24 | 13 | 40 |
| 8 | Brighton | 25 | 0 | 37 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 24 | -3 | 37 |
| 10 | Fulham | 24 | 4 | 36 |
| 11 | Brentford | 24 | 0 | 31 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 24 | -2 | 30 |
| 13 | Man Utd | 24 | -6 | 29 |
| 14 | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 | 11 | 27 |
| 15 | Everton | 24 | -5 | 27 |
| 16 | West Ham | 24 | -17 | 27 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton | 24 | -18 | 19 |
| 18 | Leicester | 24 | -28 | 17 |
| 19 | Ipswich | 24 | -27 | 16 |
| 20 | Southampton | 24 | -36 | 9 |
Full-time: Brighton 3-0 Chelsea
Chelsea’s biggest Premier League defeat under Maresca.
90+6 min: Both teams seem content with a 3-0 scoreline.
90+4 min: Brighton fans are cheering every pass. This is embarrassing for Chelsea, who have already bought countless players and staff (and a manager) from the south-coast club.
I think what was astonishing about Mitoma’s goal was not just the first touch but also how quickly the winger shifted the ball away from Chalobah with his second touch. Because the control was instant, the Chelsea defender was completely bamboozled and that only made Mitoma’s movement and finish look better.
90+2 min: Sky pundit Jamie Carragher gives Mitoma the player of the match award. Minteh, Rutter, and Baleba were also contenders but you simply can’t not give it to the Japanese for one of the most memorable first touches and goals the Premier League has ever seen.
90 min: Six minutes added on here. Someone put Chelsea out of their misery.
89 min: From the corner, Chelsea take it short and Palmer whips a sublime cross with pace and verve to the back stick, where precisely no Chelsea players attack. The dangerous cross simply bounces out for a goal kick. Palmer simply looks towards Maresca and shrugs his shoulders in dismay.
88 min: This is the worst Chelsea performance I have seen under Maresca. Nkunku in particular has been completely anonymous, but pokes his head above the parapet to finally force Verbruggen into a save after a clever cut back from George. Verbruggen makes an excellent save with his feet! Corner to Chelsea.
Brighton hit the post!
86 min: Ayari floats a delicate little chip over the Chelsea back-line. Veltman – hardly known for his searing pace and attacking instincts – breaks the offside trap and pokes a finish at goal from just six-yards out. The ball hits Jorgensen in the face before clipping the outside the post!
Updated
84 min: Brighton make a double change: Baleba and Welbeck off, O’Riley and Ayari on. I think that means Joao Pedro will play as the central striker.
82 min: “As a Celtic fan, I’m enjoying watching one of England’s most unlikeable clubs getting a right good doing,” emails Stephen McCrossan. “Brighton, on the other hand, seem like a good bunch. And they have the splendid Matt O’Riley on the bench who all Celtic fans adored. A couple of observations: did Minteh just shout out ‘eff off’ in quite a cheery way when he scored the third goal? [Yes Stephen, I think he did]. And, secondly, can I just say I really like the spiffy new rapidly updating system on the live match feeds? Good work by the Guardian Geek team there”.
80 min: Minteh is booked for a bit of afters with Cucurella, after the Brighton man was ruled offside on another dangerous counter-attack.
78 min: Brighton show Chelsea how to take a free-kick, with Minteh whipping a lovely pass in towards the near post. Joao Pedro rises highest, but can’t plant his header below Jorgensen’s crossbar.
76 min: It should be four! Jorgensen clears awfully to Joao Pedro, whose first touch of the match is to control the ball and with Jorgensen completely out of position, the Brazilian’s second touch is to shoot wildly over the bar. The goal was gaping!
Remarkable that Chelsea have seven keepers on their books and still don’t have a decent stopper. Meanwhile, £71m Kepa, on loan at Bournemouth, is doing just fine.
Updated
74 min: Brighton make a double change: Joao Pedro for the excellent Rutter and Gomez for Hinshelwood.
73 min: Rutter, who has both deft and incisive tonight, leaves two Chelsea markers for dead and releases Mitoma, who runs 60-70 yards unchallenged. The Japanese enters the Chelsea penalty area, Dewsbury-Hall actually chooses not to engage as he covers the easy square pass to Welbeck, and Mitoma shoots with his weaker left, straight at Jorgensen.
71 min: Chelsea are yet to have a shot in this second half and have failed to beat the first man from multiple corners.
69 min: “It’s happened again … it’s happened agaaaaaaain”, sing the Brighton fans to the Chelsea supporters.
67 min: Should mention that Enzo Fernandez got a booking in the aftermath of Brighton’s third goal. It’s safe to say that the Argentinian is a little riled up.
65 min: Chelsea make a triple change in response to the goal but it’s all too late. James, Dewsbury-Hall and George (for just his second Premier League appearance) comes on for Gusto, Caicedo and Neto.
GOAL! Brighton 3-0 Chelsea (Minteh 63)
That’s the game, surely! Colwill gives the ball away cheaply as he brings the ball out and suddenly Chelsea are all at sea. Inside the visitors’ box, Minteh plays a one-two to completely lose Sancho – poor defending – and the Gambian ghosts inside Cucurella before lashing a deflected strike past Jorgensen. Chelsea complain about a foul on Colwill but there’s nothing there. Three-nil!
Updated
62 min: This would normally be the stage where you would expect Chelsea to make changes. But a quick glance at the visitors’ bench – Sanchez, Adarabioyo, Dewsbury-Hall, James, Anselmino, George, Acheampong, Amougou – doesn’t fill one with inspiration.
61 min: Brighton are really hitting their groove. Baleba and Rutter are looking particularly slick in midfield.
59 min: Gusto, who has looked a little ragged since that Baleba tackle, is struggling. Another injury for Chelsea. Gusto hobbles to the sideline clutching his hip. I think he may continue, although Reece James is primed on the bench.
57 min: Chelsea are applying pressure with possession and the occasional cross into the box, but Brighton – defending in a low-ish block – have not afforded the visitors any significant chances.
55 min: Have always loved Mitoma but have to say I was surprised that Brighton rejected a £75m bid for Mitoma in January, especially as they have Adingra in reserve. How wrong I was. The Japanese will turn 28 in May, but apparently had no intention of leaving for Saudi Arabia. Good on him.
53 min: It’s been a slow start to the second half. Chelsea’s Cucurella, formerly of Brighton, is still getting booed every time he touches the ball. Caicedo, curiously, has escaped the same treatment.
Updated
51 min: Right on cure, Minteh sprints clear of Cucurella on Brighton’s right wing, retrieves the ball and cuts the ball back to Rutter, who shoots high and wide. The former Leeds man had more time than he realised.
49 min: Can someone please tell me what has happened to Simon Adingra this season? He is such a talent, but really seems to be off it. I guess the emergence/arrival of Minteh has had something to do with it.
A year ago, almost exactly to the day, Adingra was named young player of the tournament at Afcon 2023, and provided the assist for Ivory Coast’s winning goal in the final. Now, he can’t get in this Brighton team.
47 min: Baleba is very harshly penalised for tackling Gusto. Chelsea have a free kick in a promising area, but Brighton step up and count about five visiting players offside.
Peeeeeeeeep!
We’re underway again in East Sussex.
“My favourite teammate’s goal reaction is Sergio Reguilon to Eric Lamela’s rabona in the NLD”, emails George Ronczy.
Yep, that’s a good shout. Not a reaction to a goal, but Anthony Gardner’s reaction to a Adel Taarabt nutmeg (while the Moroccan was at Tottenham) is an all-timer. Gardner just looked away and stopped watching the game in astonishment. Filthy.
Updated
Half-time reading:
Half-time: Brighton 2-0 Chelsea
I’m going to go and have a little lie down in a dark room and think about that Mitoma touch.
48 min: After a slow start in which he let Palmer have acres of space, Baleba has quietly been excellent for Brighton, extinguishing fires around Brighton’s penalty box when Chelsea threatened to create an opening.
45 min: Four minutes added on here. Chelsea will want to nick one before the half is out.
“The reaction of Mitoma’s teammates to that goal is quite sweet,” emails Tom Atkins. “There’s a real disbelief and excitement on their faces that reminds me of a goal scored by Dennis Bergkamp against Sunderland in 1997, where the pitch side camera clearly picks up Paul Merson giggling ‘what a f***ing goal!’”
One of the great 90s celebrations, this. Pure impudence. For context, I would say Mitoma’s goal was better. It’s the best I’ve seen all season.
For context, I would say Mitoma’s goal was better. It’s the best goal I’ve seen all season.
Updated
44 min: Yellow card for Caicedo, who brings former teammate Mitoma down in midfield with an ill-timed slide. It was not without force, but accidental and yellow is probably the right colour.
42 min: Lots of nice Chelsea build-up again, but no clinical edge to the visitors’ play. Neat interplay sets up Gusto on the edge of Brighton’s box, and the right back hits a left-footed shot high and wide. All fart, no … you know the rest.
Chelsea have had 71% possession, and no shots on target.
Updated
40 min: “Can we play you every week?” taunt the Brighton fans?
GOAL! Brighton 2-0 Chelsea (Minteh 38)
Rütter and Welbeck combine deliciously on the edge of Chelsea’s box before releasing Mitoma. The Japanese crosses low, the ball ricochets off Colwill onto Jorgensen, rebounds to Welbeck, who shows great composure to lay the ball off to Minteh. The Gambian, just five yards from goal, sidesteps Cucurella neatly and steadies himself before lashing the ball into the net!
Updated
CHELSEA GOAL DISALLOWED!
35 min: Chelsea have had joy from the right wing all night – even with Neto replacing Madueke – and as a cross comes in, Enzo Fernández is judged to have pushed Veltman, just before the Argentinian headed the ball into the far corner.
Updated
32 min: The beauty of football. Chelsea, by far the better team, find themselves behind.
Updated
30 min: That Mitoma goal belongs alongside the Suárez goal v Newcastle in terms of first touches directly leading to a goal. I will not be told otherwise.
Ooooooooooooh, good lord. What a goal. It’s route one stuff as Verbruggen hoofs one long into the night’s sky. Mitoma sprints forward, watching the flight of the ball over his shoulder – and I mean literally from behind his back over the top of his head onto his right foot. Mitoma cushions the ball like it a bean bag, like it is the easiest thing in the world and in one movement, takes a touch away from the trailing Cholabah before finishing cooly past Jorgensen. But this goal is all about the first touch, one for the ages. One-nil to Brighton!
Updated
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Chelsea (Mitoma 27)
The Japanese scores one of the goals of the season!
Updated
26 min: Palmer is starting to pull the strings for Chelsea, twice playing through balls that would make Jason Statham shed a tear.
England manager Thomas Tuchel watches on from the stands. How will the German use Palmer in next month’s internationals?
24 min: Mitoma has his first real oppotunity to run at Gusto, but the Japanese stumbles just as he enters Chelsea’s penalty area.
22 min: Neto has switched to the right flank for Chelsea, and Sancho will play on the left. Lamptey, playing left-back tonight for Brighton, makes a good early tackle on Neto.
20 min: Madueke looks like he has pulled his hamstring and is going to need to come off! Chelsea’s injury woes continue! Their only attacker on the subs bench, Sancho, will come on.
Updated
18 min: Chelsea again break down that right flank, with Madueke springing clear of Lamptey. Again the ball is cut back to Palmer, completely unmarked on the edge of Brighton’s area again, but the English playmakers skews uncharacteristically wide! That was a real chance! Where on earth were Hinshelwood or Baleba?!
16 min: Lamptey, a former Chelsea player of course, is clattered by Colwill but referee Chris Kavanagh waves play on! Fabian Hürzeler is furious on the sidelines, bouncing around on the sidelines like a kangaroo on a space hopper.
13 min: Big chance for Brighton! Welbeck pounces on a loose ball and races through on goal, albeit from an acute angle. Just as the striker is shaping to shoot, Caicedo makes a huge sliding tackle to send the ball behind for a Brighton corner.
10 min: Cucurella upends Minteh and is perhaps a little lucky to escape a booking. The home crowd are not best pleased.
Updated
8 min: Chelsea have not carved out an obvious chance but they are obviously in the mood. Palme, Madueke and Gusto have already created plenty of promising openings without creating a golden chance. But it feels like a matter of time at the moment.
6 min: Palmer finds another pocket of space, this time on the right wing, turning Webster inside out but his cross is intercepted and cleared by the very talented Baleba, who surely already has this chant at Brighton?
4 min: A brilliant counter-attack from Chelsea! Chalobah is pinned right as Brighton attempt a high-press but Chelsea find their way out of it as Madueke backheels cleverly to release Gusto. The French full-back canters 60 yards up the right full-back, with Hinshelwood unable to keep up, before a cut-back finds Palmer in oceans of space on the edge of Brighton’s area … the shot flies over.
2 min: Another former Brighton player in Chelsea’s all-black away kit tonight, Marc Cucurella, is roundly booed by the home fans whenever he touches the ball. There are also some choice words directed at the Spaniard as he goes to take a throw-in, that I won’t repeat here.
Peeeeeeeeeep!
We’re underway at the Amex!
Former Brighton midfielder Moisés Caicedo is quietly having an absolutely barnstorming season for Chelsea. He has made more tackles and interceptions combined than any other midfielder in the Premier League, completed more passes into the final third than any other player, won the third-most duels of any player.
These are the highlights from last Saturday’s FA Cup clash.
Updated
Danny Welbeck is Brighton’s captain tonight. What a player he is, seemingly getting better with age.
Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler speaks to the cameras:
Welbeck is a role model for the young players and everyone at the club. He has a good feeling for intensity and he is a great player on the pitch.
Updated
It may have taken Brighton’s record signing a few months to settle in but the performance of Georginio Rutter in their thrilling FA Cup victory over Chelsea showed that the Frenchman was worth the £40m they paid Leeds in the summer. A brilliant header to equalise before setting up Kaoru Mitoma’s winner gave Fabian Hürzeler’s side the confidence boost they needed after their 7-0 mauling at Nottingham Forest, with Rutter justifying his manager’s decision to leave João Pedro on the bench. Rutter – who has seven goals in all competitions – did not start a Premier League game in January after struggling with a hamstring problem and Hürzeler has been mindful of protecting the 22-year-old, although he will be itching to face Enzo Maresca’s side for the second time in six days. “There were a lot of personal duels and he proved that he can win the majority of them, and that’s why I’m happy with him,” said Hürzeler.
Updated
Further to those Chelsea points, here’s Jacob Steinberg.
So Brighton captain Lewis Dunk is not fit, as expected. Adam Webster comes in alongside Van Hecke. Joao Pedro is again on the bench, and Wieffer is also among the subs after a nine-game absence.
From that squad, Chelsea really do not have a wealth of attacking options. Nkunku really struggled in the FA Cup last weekend against Brighton, but Maresca persists/has no choice here. The only senior ‘attacker’ on Chelsea’s bench is Jadon Sancho and he is of course a wide man.
Interesting that Chalobah gets the nod ahead of Tosin Adarabioyo in central defence. It seems mad that Chelsea’s squad feels light after £1bn over spending since the Boehly era began.
The teams!
Brighton: Verbruggen, Veltman, Van Hecke, Webster, Lamptey, Baleba, Hinshelwood, Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma, Welbeck.
Subs: Rushworth, Gruda, Joao Pedro, Adingra, Cashin, Gomez, Ayari, Wieffer, O’Riley.
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Madueke, Palmer, Pedro Neto, Nkunku.
Subs: Sanchez, Adarabioyo, Sancho, Dewsbury-Hall, James, Anselmino, George, Acheampong, Amougou.
Referee: Christopher Kavanagh
Preamble
Hello world! Brighton host Chelsea in the first of this weekend’s Premier League fixtures, and also a repeat of the two sides’ FA Cup fourth-round tie on Saturday, won by Brighton.
A chance, then, for Chelsea to get some immediate revenge in the league, as the fourth-placed Blues look to put further distance between themselves and the rest of the Champions League-chasing pack. Just three points separate themselves and seventh-placed Bournemouth.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 24 | 35 | 57 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 24 | 27 | 50 |
| 3 | Nottm Forest | 24 | 13 | 47 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 24 | 16 | 43 |
| 5 | Man City | 24 | 13 | 41 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 24 | 13 | 41 |
| 7 | AFC Bournemouth | 24 | 13 | 40 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 24 | -3 | 37 |
| 9 | Fulham | 24 | 4 | 36 |
| 10 | Brighton | 24 | -3 | 34 |
| 11 | Brentford | 24 | 0 | 31 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 24 | -2 | 30 |
| 13 | Man Utd | 24 | -6 | 29 |
| 14 | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 | 11 | 27 |
| 15 | Everton | 24 | -5 | 27 |
| 16 | West Ham | 24 | -17 | 27 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton | 24 | -18 | 19 |
| 18 | Leicester | 24 | -28 | 17 |
| 19 | Ipswich | 24 | -27 | 16 |
| 20 | Southampton | 24 | -36 | 9 |
One change we know that Enzo Maresca will make from the team that lost at the Amex last weekend is in goal. Chelsea’s manager confirmed on Thursday that Filip Jorgensen has replaced Robert Sanchez as Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper. The Blues are facing a crisis in attack after discovering that Nicolas Jackson will be out until April with a hamstring injury. Marc Guiu is also sidelined and João Félix has been loaned to Milan. That leaves Maresca to choose between persisting with Christopher Nkunku as a striker – the Frenchman struggled against Brighton – or using Cole Palmer as a false No 9.
Brighton’s league season is meandering, somewhat. Recent wins away at Ipswich and Manchester United have been punctuated a home defeat to Everton and a 7-0 shellacking at Nottingham Forest. European qualification is certainly not beyond this very talented squad, but their best chance of GLORY this season remains in the FA Cup. The Seagulls have a tasty fifth-round tie away at Newcastle.
Brighton captain Lewis Dunk is a major doubt after injuring a rib during the FA Cup clash but in better news, Mats Wieffer could be involved after nine games out.
Kick-off: 8pm GMT.
