Chelsea slammed for ‘disastrous’ performance vs Brighton | OneFootball

Chelsea Suffer Another Costly Defeat as Brighton Dominate Again

Chelsea’s stuttering start to the season took another painful turn as Enzo Maresca’s side fell 3-1 at home to Brighton. It was the third time in 2025 that the Seagulls have beaten the Blues, underlining a remarkable record against a club that has raided them for players and staff in recent years.

Missed opportunity without Palmer

The absence of Cole Palmer was always going to hurt Chelsea. With their talisman sidelined for two to three weeks due to a groin injury, Maresca was forced into changes as his team sought to respond after defeat to Manchester United the previous weekend. Instead, they slipped to a third loss in four matches across all competitions.

Photo IMAGO

Enzo Fernandez had briefly raised hopes of a response, heading home in the 24th minute after Reece James’ cross deflected kindly into his path. Chelsea went into half-time with a slender lead, but discipline again proved costly.

Just eight minutes after the restart, Trevoh Chalobah was sent off for bringing down Diego Gomez following an error from Andrey Santos. The red card turned the contest, handing Brighton belief and space to exploit.

Brighton punish Chelsea errors

The Seagulls equalised in the 77th minute when Yankuba Minteh drove past Malo Gusto and crossed for Danny Welbeck to head beyond Robert Sanchez. The pressure grew, and in stoppage time Mats Wieffer’s header fell for Maxim De Cuyper, who finished decisively to put Brighton ahead.

The afternoon worsened for Chelsea in the 100th minute as Welbeck calmly chipped past Sanchez after slick interplay involving Minteh and Brajan Gruda. For the second week in a row, individual mistakes and ill-discipline combined to derail Maresca’s side.

Photo: IMAGO

Jason Cundy, who made 53 appearances for Chelsea, did not hide his frustration. Speaking to the Chelsea Chronicle, he said: “This is a bad result. The whole second half has been an absolute disaster. This has been a terrible second half. I did not see this coming at half time.”

Supporters show frustration

Boos greeted the final whistle as Chelsea’s patchy form leaves them eighth in the Premier League table with just eight points from six games. They already trail leaders Liverpool by seven points, with Arsenal also pulling clear in the early weeks.

Mistakes have become a recurring theme. Robert Sanchez was dismissed just five minutes into the defeat at Manchester United, and now Chalobah’s red card has once again undermined the team’s chances. With Maresca placing trust in young players, inconsistency is becoming the price of inexperience.

Brighton’s remarkable record

For Brighton, the win continued an outstanding run against Chelsea. They have now beaten them three times in 2025 alone, following February’s FA Cup victory and a 3-0 league success just six days later.

That record is made even more impressive given the number of players and staff they have lost to Stamford Bridge, including Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Joao Pedro and Sanchez. Rather than weakening them, those departures have only sharpened their edge when facing Chelsea.

The result leaves Maresca with significant work to do. Chelsea’s long-term vision is based on youth and development, but unless discipline improves and costly errors are eradicated, their hopes of closing the gap to Liverpool and Arsenal will remain a distant prospect.