by It is not easy to understand why Mauricio Pochettino compared himself to a university professor. The Chelsea manager must have felt as if he was leading a class of unruly children during a performance that started in dominant fashion and ended with Thiago Silva making heroic blocks, Levi Colwill almost giving away a penalty in the 110.th moments and a general air of chaos almost allowing Brighton to snatch an undeserved point.
If anything, there were times when Chelsea were overstretched as they chased their fourth home Premier League win in 2023. They were up for a fight and were down to 10 men when their captain, Conor Gallagher, himself out of office just before. half time. Pochettino loved intensity and despaired of naivety.
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Discipline? Discipline? Joint position? Forget it. This was Chelsea playing on vibes, on emotions, and a combination of togetherness and good fortune was needed to see off Brighton’s opponents in the second half. Brighton, who started slowly before improving, went to VAR intervention which allowed Enzo Fernández to score the decisive goal from the spot.
Pochettino had spoken of Chelsea’s need to “defend as a collective”. His anger was palpable after last weekend’s collapse in Newcastle and he looked to respond by making four changes. Cole Palmer was a notable omission, Mykhailo Mudryk preferred to the player, although it would be interesting to see how Chelsea would fare with their full-back missing. Indeed, with Axel Disasi deputizing for Reece James and Malo Gusto on the right, it was almost as if Tony Pulis had taken over for Pochettino this afternoon.
There would be no question about Chelsea’s commitment. Mudryk set the tone by pressing high and conceding a free kick inside the opening minute. Brighton, hit by injuries and tired after beating AEK Athens last Thursday, found it difficult to compete at first. They threatened in the second minute, Simon Adingra almost took advantage of the uncertainty between Benoît Badiashile and Robert Sánchez, but a quick look at Roberto De Zerbi’s body language suggests that the Italian was not sure that his team was at the races.
Chelsea started to play through midfield early on. Moisés Caicedo ignored the boos from outside and took control with his smart passing. Fernández was an unacceptable opponent for Carlos Baleba and Billy Gilmour. Raheem Sterling tested Brighton on the right.
Chelsea took a deserved lead when Gallagher took a corner from the right. Badashile made a nuisance of himself at the far post and hooked the ball into the six yard box. Brighton, vulnerable without the suspended Lewis Dunk at the back, were all over the place. No one in green and black tried to stop Fernández from heading home from close range.
De Zerbi’s suspicions seemed justified. Nicolas Jackson almost punished a mistake from Jan Paul van Hecke minutes later and Brighton conceded another corner in the 21stSt minute. This time Jackson was heading across goal and Colwill headed the ball over the line for his first goal for the club.
Chelsea were cruising, but the mood didn’t change just before half-time. Brighton went forward down the left, and Adam Lallana found Facundo Buonanotte. One on one with Colwill, the winger cut inside from the right and curled a beautiful shot past Sánchez with his left foot.
Chelsea could have been clear – Mudryk had gone close to making it 3-0 – but now their inexperience took over. They have the most bookings in the league and were down to 10 men when Gallagher, who was only lucky to get a yellow on Buonanotte, missed Gilmour and got his second booking for the former midfielder Chelsea pitch to catch down from behind.
Where was the leadership? Pochettino, who is aware of the erratic nature of his youth side, needed good heads. For the second week in a row, however, what he got was inexplicable immaturity from the player wearing the captain’s armband. It’s worth remembering that James, the club captain, was unavailable after picking up two silly bookings against Newcastle.
Pochettino has a problem. The 39-year-old Silva had the upper hand in the second half but Caicedo was soon booked to kick the ball. Chelsea was excited. Caicedo went close to being booked twice and De Zerbi responded with a quadruple substitution, Kaoru Mitoma, João Pedro, Pascal Gross and James Milner coming on.
Brighton had done enough to stretch the 10 men. They created little and were caught out when Chelsea broke away from a corner. Jackson released Mudryk with a clever pass and the Ukrainian went down after challenging Milner.
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It was time for a long VAR check. Milner gave Mudryk a small drop and countless rebounds suggested a tangle of legs. The touch, albeit small, was enough for Craig Pawson to direct the spot. Fernández, who had previously missed his penalty, got up and sent his point on Jason Steele the wrong way.
Chelsea fell back as they defended their lead. Brighton pressed and Sánchez made a great save from Gross. There were 10 minutes of added time and Brighton pulled one back when Pedro met Milner’s corner with a clean header.
Nerves took over. Silva made a crucial challenge and Sánchez saved well from Pedro. Then Colwill stuck out a hand trying to block a cross. Pawson marked the spot and the Brighton bench celebrated, only for replays to show that the ball hit Colwill in the face. Chelsea escaped. A strong desire managed to overcome them. Of course there was a fight after full time.
