Opinion: Chelsea sub failed to repay Enzo Maresca's faith in him in Brighton defeat | OneFootball

Young defender Josh Acheampong was given the task to steady the ship but struggled to make an impact in Chelsea's 3-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday.

It was smooth sailing for Chelsea in the first half, and it looked like it was going to be a comfortable home win.

Enzo Fernandez grabbed the lead with a header to an empty net, and Chelsea dominated the possession of the ball without conceding any shots on goal.

Unfortunately, after Andrey Santos lost the ball deep inside Chelsea's half, Trevoh Chalobah decided to gamble and was given the marching order for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

Just like last week, Chelsea were down to ten men.

IMAGO / Martin Dalton

Head coach Enzo Maresca's response was simple enough. He brought on a centre-back to replace Santos, forcing Fernandez to play deep in midfield alongside Moises Caicedo.

It worked fine initially, but as Brighton threw in more and more attackers up front, including Danny Welbeck, Chelsea struggled.

At this point, the centre-back pairing is inexperienced Acheampong and Jorrel Hato, who is naturally a left back.

Unsurprisingly, Brighton found the equaliser through Welbeck.

Maresca clearly saw that his defence could not cope with Brighton's relentless attack and decided to bring in another centre-back, Benoit Badiashile, who made his first appearance since the Club World Cup.

IMAGO / Action Plus

The result? Brighton scored two more goals late in the game.

Acheampong finished the game with just three defensive contributions: an interception and two clearances, and lost the ball twice in the same period, including an error leading to a goal.

Obviously, it is unfair to blame the 19-year-old for the defeat. He was not supposed to play such a big role in a high-stakes game, in the first place, at least not yet.

However, given the situation, he is now one of the few centre-back options at the club, and whether he is ready or not, the team will have to rely on him in certain tough situations.