Brighton struck twice in second-half stoppage-time as 10-man Chelsea threw away the lead to slump to a 3-1 Premier League defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Maxim De Cuyper’s header put Brighton into the lead at the start of 11 added minutes at the end of the match to stun the home side, who had laboured ever since the dismissal in the 53rd minute of Trevoh Chalobah.
Substitute De Cuyper was left unmarked to nod the ball home after Mats Weiffer had turned Yasin Ayari’s deep cross back into the box, before fellow substitute Danny Welbeck added a third – his second – to finish Chelsea off.
For the second time in as many league matches, Enzo Maresca had been left looking for answers following a red card.
This time he at least had the comfort of an advantage given to his side by Enzo Fernandez’s header midway through the first half, but after Chalobah was sent off for denying Diego Gomez when through on goal – as at Old Trafford last weekend – Chelsea were made to improvise.
That they failed to do so raised questions again about this young side’s ability to guile and organisational nous when under pressure.
Manchester United learned last week how rattled Chelsea become when a situation changes rapidly and here Brighton were the beneficiaries, Welbeck heading them level 13 minutes from time as the game swung the visitors’ way.
Chelsea started excellently and might have finished Brighton off by half-time. Bart Verbruggen kept out free-kicks in the first half from Fernandez and Reece James, whilst Marc Cucurella fizzed an early effort a yard wide against his former club.
There was a hum of approval from home fans when Estevao Willian nutmegged Ferdi Kadioglu on halfway then drove determinedly into the box before Jan Paul van Hecke could shovel the ball behind for a corner.
The game was being played at an excitable pace, all one-touch passing and zig-zagging runs, the antithesis from Chelsea of the lacklustre surrender to United a week ago.
In the absence of Cole Palmer, Fernandez took the number 10 role as he did against Bayern Munich. His speed of thought on the ball and sureness of touch in the centre greased the gears of Chelsea’s early dominance.
The goal after 24 minutes was much deserved. Moises Caicedo slipped the ball into the right channel for James to zip onto, and as his cross skipped up into an arch off the covering Karou Mitoma, there at the far post was Fernandez, hanging in the air as it dropped to nod it over the line.
Then came the red card on which the game turned. A dreadful pass from Andrey Santos exposed Chalobah as the last man to the goalwards advance of Gomez.
The defender made a hopeless attempt to win the ball from behind and – following a protracted VAR analysis – he was dismissed.
Welbeck came on and shot agonisingly wide after losing Cucurella as Chelsea failed to clear their lines.
But the striker would not be denied. Moments later, he was left free inside the box to rise and bullet Yankuba Minteh’s cross past Robert Sanchez for the equaliser.
De Cuyper’s goal for 2-1 was the killer for Chelsea. Few of their fans remained in the ground by the time Welbeck crashed in his second and Brighton’s third.
