The frostiness with which Enzo Maresca discussed his Brighton counterpart in the build-up made you wonder if he has a dartboard in his office with a picture of Fabian Hurzeler’s face on it.
Unfortunately for Chelsea, it was only their Champions League charge which was poked full of holes here. They returned to the Amex Stadium for the second time in six days and lost again, looking equally as lightweight in the Premier League as they did in the FA Cup.
Chelsea did not even register a single shot on target against a side that lost 7-0 to Nottingham Forest two weeks ago. Brighton were slicker, smarter, stronger, and their opening goal involved a move so majestic that it made the numb toes worthwhile on this frozen Friday night.
Kaoru Mitoma’s first touch was up there with the very best, one which would not look alien in a showreel for Dennis Bergkamp, Luis Suarez or Dimitar Berbatov. It was a ball launched long by Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen which had no business being plucked out of the air as exquisitely as it was. It landed over Mitoma’s shoulder while he was sprinting at speed. He controlled it, turned Trevoh Chalobah, and curled into the corner from 20 yards.
‘Special things like this, you don’t see regularly,’ Hurzeler said in summary. ‘To co-ordinate the speed of the ball, the height, your own legs because we should not underestimate he was in full sprint, that was special. I would not try it at home.’
A double from Yankuba Minteh followed and, while Chelsea can claim to be hamstrung by injuries as they lack a single recognised striker, supporters will tell you this is not to their standards. The closest they came to scoring was when Adam Webster nearly sent Tyrique George’s cross into his own goal. Otherwise, this was as bad a showing we have seen all season.
Brighton eased past Chelsea to win 3-0 at home after Kaoru Mitoma’s magical opening goal
Yankuba Minteh helped sunk the Blues with his brace, scoring either side of half-time
Enzo Maresca’s struggling side have now lost three of their last four games in all competitions
Maresca criticised the ‘desire’ shown by his men as he said: ‘The performance was the worst since I arrived. We feel very sorry for the fans. We cannot offer this performance with 14 games to go.’
It was on Thursday when Maresca passed on four opportunities to offer an opinion on Hurzeler at an awkward pre-match press conference. When asked if he considers the 31-year-old German a top coach, he answered ‘thank you very much’ and stood up to leave.
Why, we are not entirely sure, but Hurzeler has angered other managers in how he calls for opponents to be carded, as he did when Marc Cucurella chopped down Minteh early on here.
Maresca made tactical changes from their FA Cup loss at this venue only six days earlier, most notably in asking Cole Palmer to play as a false nine and Christopher Nkunku as a No 10.
After 17 minutes, Noni Madueke charged down the right before cutting the ball back for Palmer. The 22-year-old Englishman opened up his left foot, but sliced wide from 16 yards in front of the watching Thomas Tuchel. Unfortunately for Madueke, after creating Chelsea’s best chance, he pulled up clutching his hamstring and was replaced by Jadon Sancho.
Brighton opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Verbruggen’s long ball saw Mitoma bring it under his spell and a few seconds later, he was scoring beyond Filip Jorgensen. Brighton turned down £54million from Saudi Arabia for Mitoma in January. This was why.
Chelsea thought they had equalised after 35 minutes when Enzo Fernandez headed in Malo Gusto’s cross, only for referee Chris Kavanagh to disallow it for a push on Joel Veltman.
Instead, Brighton made it 2-0 and it started with Chalobah losing the ball while trying to play out from the back. Levi Colwill stopped Danny Welbeck from tapping in Georginio Rutter’s cross, but Minteh skipped to the side of Cucurella’s slide tackle and scored.
This week marked three years since Chelsea’s last trophy – in the Club World Cup when they beat Palmeiras 2-1 in February 2022. Summing up the scale of change, the only surviving members from that match-day squad are Marcus Bettinelli and Chalobah.
As Maresca said in the build-up, this is not the same Chelsea that used to win for fun. Supporters are beginning to realise that as they sang the name of Roman Abramovich, loudly and proudly.
Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen had a difficult night as he was beaten three times
Cole Palmer cut a frustrated figure as Chelsea failed to register a shot on target
This was only Nkunku’s sixth Premier League start for Chelsea since signing for £52m in June 2023. He had been a ghost to the game, and in their desperation, Chelsea chucked a few crosses in, seemingly forgetting they did not have a striker as Palmer started to show his frustration.
After 63 minutes, Brighton made it three when Colwill lost the ball and showed little desire to get back into position. Welbeck fed Minteh, who cut inside and scored. Amid the pause in play, Fernandez decided to start a scrap. He has done this before while Chelsea are losing, as if to show that he cares. They could do with that passion while points are there for the taking.
Mitoma could have added a chef’s kiss when he led a counter, but he blasted the ball directly at Jorgensen. At full-time, Maresca’s assistant Willy Caballero seemingly had to remind a few Chelsea players that they should go thank the fans who travelled. This was not an easy watch for them, and they could end the weekend in sixth, two months after there was title talk.
