Chelsea 1-3 Brighton: Consecutive Premier League defeats with 10-men mounts pressure | OneFootball

Chelsea suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats after a 3-1 loss against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon.

Brighton punished the 10-man Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to ensure Enzo Maresca's side saw their winless run in the league extend to three games.

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A brace from substitute Danny Welbeck and a stoppage time goal from Maxim De Cuyper cancelled out Enzo Fernandez's opener, with Chelsea playing the majority of the second half with 10-men following Trevoh Chalobah's dismissal.

It was a positive start from Chelsea, who were quick to make an impression against the Seagulls.

Maresca’s side had plenty of the ball and opened the Brighton defence up with the width of Pedro Neto and Estevao.

Estevao had several chances to open the scoring in the first-half, but was denied thanks to Marc Verbruggen and the Brighton defence.

Chelsea took a deserved lead after 24 minutes. Reece James’ deflected cross found Enzo Fernandez at the back post and he made no mistake heading into an empty net.

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Despite Chelsea's dominance, in the 53rd minute the game changed. Following a VAR check, Trevoh Chalobah was shown a straight red card for fouling Diego Gomez and denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Maresca attempted to ease the pressure on Chelsea's defence by bringing on Josh Acheampong and Malo Gusto, however from that point on it was all Brighton.

With 13 minutes to play, Brighton managed to break through Chelsea’s defence to find a leveller Yankuba Minteh found substitute Danny Welbeck and he headed the visitors level.

Chelsea were beginning to hold on heading into the final stages, and following all the stoppages in play, the fourth official awarded a minimum of 11 minutes of additional time.

The direction of travel was inevitable. Brighton were pushing for all three points to claim their first away league win of the season, and Fabian Hurzeler's side found the all important goal.

Two minutes into stoppage time and Maxim De Cuyper nodded home at the back post to send the away fans into jubilation, which coincided with the Stamford Bridge faithful heading for the exit in disappointment.

IMAGO / Martin Dalton

Brighton weren't finished there and they compounded the misery on Chelsea when Welbeck bagged his brace to seal the points and ensure Maresca's side were left empty handed.

It leaves Chelsea without a league win in three (D1, L2) ahead of a crucial week before the international break. They will mark the red card as game-changing, which it was, but errors continue to cost Maresca's side.

Their next league game is the toughest of them all - Liverpool at home. The only want to stop the increasing noise and pressure is to deliver results. It's easier said than done, particularly with the growing injury list, but Chelsea must find a way. After all, that's what all good teams do.