KAORU MITOMA showed why the Saudis valued him at £75million as he fired his Brighton side into the FA Cup fifth round.
The Japanese winger — the subject of a mega-money offer from Arabian club Al-Nassr which was rejected by the Seagulls — struck a superb winner as Fabian Hurzeler’s men erased last weekend’s 7-0 thrashing by Nottingham Forest.
Chelsea had taken an early lead after a clanger from Albion keeper Bart Verbruggen.
Georginio Rutter, who levelled soon after, hailed match-winner Mitoma.
He said: “Wow, he is a special player. It is very good to have him in the team.”
For boss Hurzeler, keeping Mitoma could be the signing of the window.
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He said: “Kaoru showed his commitment from the first minute. He never had the feeling inside him that he wanted to leave.
“He gives us a lot. We are happy he is in our team and that he scored tonight.”
And Brighton’s ex-Chelsea star Tariq Lamptey, 24, said of Mitoma: “It was a fantastic goal.
“We know what quality he has and he’s a great person as well. We are happy to have him.”
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Injuries to strikers Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu, plus the failure to sign a new forward in the January window, had left Enzo Maresca’s toothless Blues reliant on Cole Palmer — as they so often are.
Palmer had already had one shot tipped over the bar when the hosts gave Chelsea a perfect start.
The England man took the corner that was fed out to right-back Malo Gusto on the unfamiliar left side of the penalty box, who in turn squared the ball to Jadon Sancho — on the unfamiliar right side of the box.
His precision, diagonal ball arced on to Palmer’s boot for a sweet, low volley across the box that was always a cross despite being on a goalbound trajectory.
Verbruggen’s rush of blood and slippery hands saw him spill what should have been an easy get and fumble the ball backwards into his own net.
Not that Palmer does not deserve the shower of praise that follows virtually his every step at the moment.
The irony of a keeper on the other side to Chelsea making a hash of things for once was also lost on no-one. But the honeymoon period lasted only seven minutes before Albion levelled.
The first attempt at probing the visitors’ area was batted away but only as far as Joel Veltman.
He pumped a curling cross into the box and Rutter positioned himself midway between Chelsea’s centre-backs and powered a header past the dive of Robert Sanchez.
The similarity between this and last Monday’s equally jammy Chelsea goal at home to West Ham was lost on no one.
Sanchez was brought back into the fold after being dropped for Monday’s Premier League clash as punishment for a string of blunders.
But it is hard to evaluate whether it is redemption or relegation to being the Cup keeper nowadays given the manner of squad rotation.
Regardless, it was a sweet moment for the home fans to see their former keeper beaten so soon after their team went behind.
The Albion supporters seemed preoccupied with booing the three ex-Seagulls in the Chelsea starting line up – Sanchez, Moises Caicedo and Marc Cucurella.
After Rutter’s equaliser, they could sing in celebration as an all-Premier League FA Cup tie took on extra life with the game evenly balanced under the lights.
Even more so when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, making a rare starting appearance, was booked for a bruising lunge on Brighton favourite Mitoma.
And when Veltman wrapped his legs around Cucurella’s ankles and sent the theatrical Spaniard rolling around on the deck later on, the atmosphere cranked up even further.
Brighton were on a mission to unsettle Chelsea’s young side, not least when their skipper Lewis Dunk leaned a bit too heavily into Palmer’s cheekbone with his forearm in first-half injury time to send the England man sprawling to the deck holding his head.
Maybe a bit of an over-reaction but it was strong-arm stuff.
And it clearly worked because Maresca’s mob were rattled enough to see their initial lead overturned into a deficit on 57 minutes and turn the tie on its head.
Mitoma was put clear on the left flank by a laser ball from midfield by Rutter — the standout player of the game.
His cross was half beaten away, before Lamptey had a dig against a wall of legs.
But Rutter then clipped a cheeky ball over the top for Mitoma to race through and clip a shot past Sanchez to give Albion the lead with just over half an hour to go.
What a turnaround for the same team — bar one — which was humbled by Forest eight days ago.
Chelsea ratings vs Brighton as pantomime villain Cucurella can hold head high but Nkunku has a shocker
BRIGHTON came from behind to dump Chelsea out of the FA Cup with Kaoru Mitoma’s perfectly placed chip securing a 2-1 win for the Seagulls at the Amex stadium.
But how did Chelsea’s players fare? Who was the biggest let down and who was the best of the worst? Check out SunSport’s player ratings…
Robert Sanchez – 5/10
Back in the side after being dropped by Enzo Maresca after a number of errors this season. The Spaniard looked shaky on the ball at the start of the game but seemed to brush off his nerves as the match developed.
Nothing he could do about Brighton’s opener with Georginio Rutter’s perfectly placed header flying past him.
Perhaps a little slow off his line for Brighton’s winner, but take nothing away from Kaoru Mitoma’s perfectly executed chip.
Malo Gusto – 5
Worked tirelessly charging up and down the right flank for Chelsea, but failed to have much joy going forward or defensively.
Struggled to deal with the dangerous Mitoma throughout the game, and was caught napping out of position for the Japanese forwards winner.
Tosin Adarabioyo – 5
Alongside Trevoh Chalobah, was guilty of allowing Georginio Rutter to drift into space to fire home Brighton’s early equaliser.
Played some confident passes at times, but also looked like a walking mistake on the ball at times. Was caught in possession on the halfway line by Georginio Rutter which almost led to a Brighton goal.
Trevoh Chalobah – 6
Equally as responsible for Brighton’s opening goal alongside his centre back partner, allowing Rutter a free header in the box.
Was more composed on the ball than his Tosin throughout the game, however, and already looks like Chelsea’s best centre back after being recalled from loan.
Marc Cucurella – 6
The pantomime villain of the evening at the Amex stadium, with Brighton fans spending the full 90 minutes booing their ex player everytime he got a hold of the ball.
Was solid throughout the game, although failed to have the attacking impact that he has had for Chelsea in recent games.
Moises Caicedo – 6
Looked to be running a one man midfield before Enzo Fernandez was introduced in the second half.
Worked tirelessly but was clearly frustrated with his sides efforts, putting in a couple of nasty tackles which led to him being booked.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 4
A rare start for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Chelsea this season, and in truth, he failed to take advantage.
A very poor challenge early on saw the Englishman booked, and he failed to have any impact on his side going forward or defensively in the first half.
Was substituted fifteen minutes into the second half for Enzo Fernandez in the wake of Brighton’s second goal.
Pedro Neto – 5
An injury concern midway through the first half, which in truth he never quite looked to shake off.
Looked confident he had the better of Tariq Lamptey, often beating his fullback. His final ball, however, was sorely lacking throughout the match, with a number of crosses flying over everyone
Cole Palmer – 6
Played his part in Chelsea’s opener with a first time cross into the box – although it’s difficult to mark that goal down as anything other than a Bart Verbruggen howler.
Looked like he was missing his regular attacking partner Nicholas Jackson, with a clear lack of connection with the Frenchman Christopher Nkunku up top.
Jadon Sancho – 5
Looked uninterested for large parts of the first half, and failed to close down Joel Veltman who whipped in the cross for Brighton’s opener.
He picked up in the second half with some direct dribbling, although never managed to find the final ball.
Christopher Nkunku – 2
It’s hard not to feel sorry for Nkunku, with the forward looking completely lost in Enzo Maresca’s system.
It genuinely seemed like he wasn’t on the pitch at times, with the Frenchman missing in action for large parts of the game.
The one clear chance he had running through on goal, he bizarrely elected to cross the ball rather than have an effort himself.
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Enzo Fernandez (Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, 59) – 7
Brought an air of control to Chelsea’s midfield which was sorely lacking before. Played a few nice passes with the short time he had on the pitch.
Nothing came of his efforts, although perhaps the result would have been different for Chelsea had he started the game.
Tyrique George (Jadon Sancho, 73) – 5
Spurned a great opportunity over the bar, and other than that failed to have any impact.
While Wembley is gone for another year, Maresca can still dream of Wroclaw with Chelsea favourites to win the Conference League and resume their campaign next month.
Hurzeler added: “I said I was really proud of how they bounced back from this big defeat.
“It is very important not to react in these moments. I stayed positive and calm. There were reasons why this happened but we always knew the potential this squad has.
“This team has a big potential.”
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Lamptey, who was at Chelsea from 11 years old, added: “It’s a great win, a big performance from the boys and the crowd’s positive so we’re happy.
“These things happen in football, it’s good that everyone rallied round and showed fighting spirit.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
