Brighton have bounced back from ignominy at Nottingham Forest in style as they came from behind to defeat Chelsea in all Premier League FA Cup fourth round clash.
It was a nightmare for the hosts as Bart Verbruggen produced a howler to gift Chelsea the lead, parrying Cole Palmer’s bouncing delivery into his own side-netting on five minutes.
However, Brighton responded superbly to falling behind, with Georginio Rutter latching on to a fantastic Joel Veltman cross to equalise just seven minutes later.
They continued to be the better team for much of the contest and got their reward after the break, with Kaoru Mitoma brilliantly flicking over Robert Sanchez to complete Brighton’s turnaround.
Relive all the action from the FA Cup with our live blog below:
Brighton vs Chelsea LIVE
- Brighton get back to winning ways to knock Chelsea out of the FA Cup
- 5' GOAL! Verbruggen howler gifts Palmer an opener for Chelsea [BRI 0-1 CHE]
- 12' GOAL! Rutter heads home equaliser in superb Brighton response [BRI 1-1 CHE]
- 57' GOAL! Mitoma flicks over Sanchez to put Brighton in front [BRI 2-1 CHE]
Brighton & Hove Albion FC 2 - 1 Chelsea FC
Brighton get back to winning ways to knock Chelsea out of the FA Cup
22:20 , Will Castle
FULL-TIME! Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:55 , Will CastleThat’ll do it! Brighton are back to winning ways as they edge out Chelsea to progress to the FA Cup fifth round.
Kaoru Mitoma’s second-half strike proved decisive for the Seagulls after coming from behind in the first 45, with Georginio Rutter’s header cancelling out Bart Verbruggen’s early own goal.
A massive boost for Brighton after the ignominy of last weekend’s trip to Nottingham Forest.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:54 , Will Castle90+4 mins: Poor clearance from Gusto falls to Gomez, whose curling shot goes high and wide.
Goal-kick to Chelsea with 20 seconds to play. It’s got to be hoofed.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:53 , Will Castle90+3 mins: CHANCE! Madueke gets slipped in behind and drills it into the six-yard box - brilliant defending from the Brighton man to slide in and prevent a Chelsea shirt from a tap in.
Up the other end, Brighton now have a corner. That’s where they’ll hold it.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:51 , Will Castle90+1 mins: Four minutes added on.
All about game management now for Brighton.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:49 , Will Castle88 mins: Lovely move from Brighton as Danny Welbeck and co. flick it between each other before Joao Pedro receives the ball on the edge of the box.
The Brazilian tries to then slip it through to Mitoma but his pass is cut out.
That be Welbeck’s last involvement as he comes off for Matt O’Reilly.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:45 , Will Castle84 mins: Veltman is caught in no-man’s land, allowing George to break into space down the left.
He drives into the box but blazes his shot high and wide. That sort of sums up Chelsea’s finishing tonight.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:42 , Will Castle82 mins: Cucurella just got sent tumbling towards the advertising board as he looked to keep the ball alive on the byline.
One of the biggest cheers of the night.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:41 , Will Castle80 mins: Adam Webster brings Noni Madueke down on the right side of the box, conceding a foul in a dangerous area.
The resulting delivery sees a few miss-kicks before Brighton are able to break away.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:38 , Will Castle78 mins: Appeals for a penalty as Joao Pedro gets goal-side of Malo Gusto when fighting for a bouncing ball before going down, claiming to have been pulled.
Would have been harsh on the Chelsea defender.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:36 , Will Castle75 mins: CHANCE! Brighton switch off, allowing Cucurella to dink one through to Cole Palmer.
If he got a good connection there, that could have been parity for the Blues. But he can’t get any purchase when stretching out his leg, with the ball bouncing out for a goal kick.
The missed opportunity is followed by two attacking changes for Chelsea, with Noni Madueke and Tyrique George on for Sancho and Neto.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:33 , Will Castle71 mins: Mitoma lets fly from range and while it’s straight down the throat Sanchez, the Spaniard doesn’t look confident collecting it.
It spurs out of his grasp before he pounces on the loose ball. A keeper prone to an error, lest we forget - and it’s exactly why Brighton have always got a man following in.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:30 , Will Castle69 mins: Brighton welcome new signing Diego Gomez into the fray, who comes on for Hinshelwood.
Moments later, Caicedo is booked for a chopping challenge. The resulting free-kick isn’t dealt with convincingly but no harm is done.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:28 , Will Castle67 mins: Sancho has been at the heart of Chelsea’s response and fashions another chance, this time for teammate Enzo Fernandez.
The Argentinian receives the ball inside the box but snatches at the shot, poking it over the bar.
Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:26 , Will Castle65 mins: Opportunity for Chelsea to respond as Sancho gets to the byline.
However, his drag-back can’t find a teammate and is the immediate danger is dealt with.
GOAL! Brighton 2-1 Chelsea
21:19 , Will Castle57 mins: GOAL! That is quite brilliant from Kaoru Mitoma!
After Tariq Lamptey’s shot is closed down, Rutter picks up the loose ball and chips it to Mitoma, who brings it down before dinking Sanchez with aplomb.
Cucurella’s attempt to clear the ball off the line gets an extra cheer from the Brighton crowd. The Seagulls lead!
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
21:16 , Will Castle55 mins: After a Chelsea forward move comes to nothing, Brighton are allowed to break.
Rutter dances past Caicedo to the joy of the crowd before finding Mitoma down the left, whose delivery asks just too much of the on-running Minteh.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
21:14 , Will Castle54 mins: Brighton pressing high but Chelsea happy to tick it about - and they’re moving the ball well.
Patient play by the Blues.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
21:10 , Will Castle49 mins: Neto cuts in on his left and unleashes a vicious shot towards goal, bravely blocked by Hinshelwood who takes the brunt of the effort.
A soar one for the young midfielder.
BACK UNDERWAY! Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
21:07 , Will Castle46 mins: We’re off again at the Amex.
Dunk doesn’t make it off the half-time treatment table, coming off for Webster at the restart.
Neto, on the other hand, is still a part of the action.
HALF-TIME! Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
21:01 , Will Castle
HALF-TIME! Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:49 , Will CastleThat’ll do it for the first-half. All square at the Amex.
It was a nightmare for the hosts as Bart Verbruggen produced a howler to gift Chelsea the lead, parrying Cole Palmer’s bouncing delivery into his own side-netting on five minutes.
However, Brighton responded superbly to falling behind, with Georginio Rutter latching on to a fantastic Joel Veltman cross to equalise just seven minutes later.
All to play for after the break.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:48 , Will Castle45+2 mins: Lewis Dunk might have been a beneficiary of the lack of VAR there after catching Palmer with a stray elbow.
Dunk felt the former City man went down softly, but you see them get checked.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:47 , Will Castle45+1 mins: Three minutes of added time indicated by the fourth official as Brighton break forward with numbers.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:45 , Will Castle44 mins: Rutter catches Tosin out on the break and drives towards the Chelsea goal.
Tosin stays with his man, not allowing him to get a proper shot away and forces Rutter to cut it back, only for Cucurella to hook it out for a corner.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:43 , Will Castle41 mins: It’s injury ping-pong here.
Lewis Dunk appeared to be fine to continue, but he’s down again and has had to come off to receive treatment. Webster is warming up.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:40 , Will Castle39 mins: Chelsea opt to keep an uncomfortable-looking Neto on - whether he makes it beyond half-time will be another question.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:39 , Will Castle37 mins: Brighton appeared to escape an injury blow a second ago - Chelsea don’t look like they’re going to have the same luck.
Neto is down with an ankle issue, immediately signalling to the bench when pulling up after getting beat down the left by Mitoma.
Madueke is warming up. This would be another attacking blow for Chelsea.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:37 , Will Castle35 mins: Concern for Brighton as Lewis Dunk is in discomfort, seemingly holding his groin.
After a worrying few seconds, he appears to give the all clear to the bench. Just a knock it looks.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:32 , Will Castle32 mins: CHANCE! Christopher Nkunku makes a great run in behind but overcomplicates things instead of shooting, lofting it towards Palmer at the back-post, whose looping header goes onto the roof of the net.
Nkunku probably should have just shot with his left there.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:30 , Will Castle30 mins: Palmer’s resulting free-kick can’t beat the first man and concedes a corner.
His next delivery is better but is well cleared by Brighton.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:29 , Will Castle27 mins: Veltman sees yellow for chopping down former Seagull Cucurella, to the joy of the Amex crowd.
With Rutter also in the book, that’s a third booking already in what has been a fiery contest thus far.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:24 , Will Castle22 mins: Former Chelsea boy Tariq Lamptey is giving Blues players trouble with his lightning-quick pace down the left.
And with Minteh on the right, Brighton are having joy down the flanks.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:19 , Will Castle18 mins: Chelsea have regained a bit of control over this game, weathering the storm after Brighton reacted superbly to going behind.
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:15 , Will Castle14 mins: Strong challenge from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall sees him end up in the book.
Any higher and he could’ve been off there.
GOAL! Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
20:13 , Will Castle12 mins: GOAL! Just the response Brighton needed!
Veltman whips in a delightful ball and Rutter can simply head past Sanchez to draw parity for the Seagulls.
GOAL! Brighton 0-1 Chelsea
20:08 , Will Castle5 mins: GOAL! That is a HOWLER from Bart Verbruggen!
Palmer receives the ball on the left and tries to catch the keeper out by volleying a first-time effort towards goal.
He does exactly that as Verbruggen parries the admittedly tame bouncing delivery into his own side-netting.
Brighton 0-0 Chelsea
20:06 , Will Castle4 mins: First attempt on goal goes Chelsea’s way as Cole Palmer stings the palms of Verbruggen after a nice switch of play.
Corner to the Blues.
Brighton 0-0 Chelsea
20:04 , Will Castle3 mins: There’s a hostile reception for Chelsea’s ex-Brighton contingent.
Caicedo, Sanchez and most evidently Cucurella are getting an earful at the Amex.
KICK-OFF! Brighton 0-0 Chelsea
20:01 , Will Castle1 min: KICK-OFF! And we’re underway.
Here come the teams
20:00 , Will CastleBoth sets of players have made their way out to an electric Amex Stadium.
Kick-off is imminent.
Closing in on kick-off
19:50 , Will CastleJust under 10 minutes until we get underway here at the Amex.
Both teams have something to prove, with Chelsea eager to continue on their journey towards a potential first piece of silverware for Enzo Maresca.
Brighton will meanwhile be desperate to get back to winning ways after being on the end of a brutal defeat to Nottingham Forest last week. Victory over the Blues could be the perfect confidence boost Fabian Hurzeler’s team needs.
Stay tuned for all the action.
Brighton desperate to bounce back after recent embarrassment
19:40 , Will CastleBrighton have been on the rise in recent years, with their European jaunts and savvy recruitment putting them among the big hitters in the Premier League.
However, last Saturday was a dark day in their history. Shipping seven at high-flying Nottingham Forest, Fabian Hurzeler’s side faced the ignominy that comes with an absolute trouncing, their heaviest league defeat for 67 years.
Tonight poses an opportunity for the Seagulls to regain a foothold in their season and not let recent struggles snowball. They’re the underdogs going into tonight, but what better competition for an underdog than the FA Cup.
Chelsea reveal Conference League squad update that signifies growing strain on selection
19:30 , Will CastleAhead of this weekend’s FA Cup action, Chelsea revealed that Cole Palmer had been added to their Conference League squad.
The 22-year-old was not picked for the league phase of the European competition in an effort to manage his minutes following the Euros.
However, with Enzo Maresca’s options up top growing limited, he has had to resort to bringing Palmer back into the continental fold.
Cole Palmer named in Chelsea’s Conference League squad despite missing group stage
Brighton vs Chelsea: Confirmed lineups
19:10 , Will CastleBrighton XI: Verbruggen, Lamptey, Dunk, Van Hecke, Veltman, Hinshelwood, Mitoma, Baleba, Rutter, Minteh, Welbeck.
Subs: Webster, Gruda, Pedro, Adingra, Cashin, Gomez, Ayari, O'Riley, McGill.
Chelsea XI: Sanchez, Gusto, Adarabioyo, Chalobah, Cucurella, Caicedo, Dewsbury-Hall, Neto, Palmer, Sancho, Nkunku.
Subs: Jorgensen, Colwill, Anselmino, Acheampong, Samuels-Smith, Amougou, Fernandez, George, Madueke.
How the teams got to this stage
19:10 , Will CastleBrighton cruised into the fourth round round of the competition with a 4-0 win over Norwich - but as they look to bounce back from a 7-0 thrashing at Forest, Fabian Hurzeler knows that Chelsea will pose a wildly different test.
Chelsea similarly came through the third round with little to know trouble, with defender Tosin Adarabioyo scoring a surprise brace in a 5-0 demolition of League Two side Morecambe.
When is the FA Cup fifth round draw?
18:50 , Will CastleBrighton and Chelsea will be vying for a place in the FA Cup fifth round as both teams look to keep their dreams of silverware alive.
Here’s everything you need to know about the fifth round draw:
When is the draw?
The draw for the fifth round of the FA Cup will take place on Monday, 10 February at 7.10pm.
How can I watch the draw?
The draw will be broadcasted live on BBC One. Subscribers can also watch online via BBC iPlayer.
Injury woes up top for Maresca
18:30 , Will CastleEnzo Maresca will be scratching his head over who will start up front for Chelsea today.
Both Nicolas Jackson and understudy Marc Guiu suffered injuries in the win over West Ham last week. Compounded by a lack of movement in the January transfer window, the Spaniard has little to no natural strikers to choose from.
Expect Chistopher Nkunku or Cole Palmer to start in the nine slot - a step out of their comfort zone for either.
Odds and prediction
18:10 , Will CastleOdds
Brighton to win – 17/10
Draw – 15/8
Chelsea to win – 11/10
Prediction
A close affair should come down to which coach manages their squads better as substitutes and fringe players could be key to getting over the line. Chelsea will be the favourites to progress but Brighton’s need to banish the memories of their loss to Nottingham Forest may mean they are up for a fight.
Predicted lineups
17:50 , Will CastleBrighton XI: Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Webster, Lamptey; Hinshelwood, Ayari; Minteh, Pedro, Mitoma; Rutter
Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; James, Adarabioyo, Acheampong, Chalobah; Caicedo, Dewsbury-Hall; Neto, Nkunku, George; Guiu
Chelsea team news
17:30 , Will CastleFor Chelsea, Mykhaylo Mudryk is suspended while Wesley Fofana, Omari Kellyman, Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile all remain unavailable for selection.
Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu both picked up injuries in Chelsea's win over West Ham and are doubts for this weekend's contest though Christopher Nkunku is expected to start.
Brighton team news
17:20 , Will CastleBrighton’s Mats Wieffer is training again but Saturday's game is too soon for a return.
Carlos Baleba and Yasin Ayari both missed last Saturday's game against Nottingham Forest and are doubts for the game along with Pervis Estupinan.
Jason Steele, Igor Julio, Ferdi Kadioglu, James Milner and Solly March are all out due to injury.
Is Brighton vs Chelsea on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch FA Cup fixture
17:10 , Will CastleWhen is Brighton vs Chelsea?
The FA Cup fixture will kick off at 8pm GMT on Saturday 8 February at the Amex Stadium in Brighton.
What TV channel is it on?
This fixture will be shown free-to-air on ITV4 in the UK, with subscribers also able to stream online via ITVX. Coverage begins at 7.15pm.
Good afternoon
17:00 , Will CastleIt’s an all Premier League clash in the FA Cup fourth round as Brighton take on Chelsea in tonight’s late kick off.
The Seagulls hope to get back to winning ways after an embarrassing 7-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in their last outing and manager Fabian Hurzeler will hope a marquee win over Chelsea can boost his team’s confidence.
Chelsea’s 2-1 win over West Ham last time out sent them back into the Premier League’s top four and they’ll be hoping to continue that form into a strong cup run.
We’ll have all the build-up and updates for tonight’s clash, right here.
