CHELSEA have handed Brighton staggering sums of money in recent years and ironically, it was them proving that Enzo Maresca’s squad is still not good enough.
The Blues crashed out of the FA Cup at the Amex on Saturday night and less than a week later they were beaten 3-0 by the Seagulls in the Premier League.
On a poor night for Chelsea, here is how SunSport’s Isabelle Barker rated the performances.
FILIP JORGENSEN 5
Jorgensen wasn’t all to blame for letting in the three goals, particularly Kaoru Mitoma’s wonder strike. But Chelsea fans will be thinking ‘be careful what you wish for’ with Rob Sanchez not looking so bad anymore.
MALO GUSTO 6
READ MORE CHELSEA NEWS
Gusto stood his ground well at times with Mitoma one-on-one for some of Chelsea’s better defending in the match.
LEVI COLWILL 5
When Colwill lost the ball under minimal pressure and stayed on the ground, making no attempt to recover his position it summed up his game. Twice in two matches he’s given goals away for being weak.
TREVOH CHALOBAH 5
Most read in Football
BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS
The centre-back flapped about when marking Mitoma for the opener.
MARC CUCURELLA 5
Struggled to keep Yankuba Minteh in check and was fully sat down by the Gambia winger for Brighton’s third goal – much to the pleasure of the booing home fans.
MOISES CAICEDO 7
Caicedo was jeered by chants of “what a waste of money”.
He has been one of the Blues’ only bright sparks for the last six months and, even today, he was Maresca’s best player.
It was surprising to see him come off, but maybe it was worth just resting him when the game went out of reach.
ENZO FERNANDEZ 6
The Chelsea skipper was unlucky not to have nabbed an equaliser after rising above Joel Veltman on 36 minutes to head home – but he fouled the Dutchman in the build up. Looked sluggish in other areas of the game though.
NONI MADUEKE 5
Had little influence as he was substituted off on 20 minutes due to a hamstring injury.
The Blues are running out of forwards with him joining Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu on the injured list.
Meanwhile, Joao Felix has been allowed to join AC Milan on loan and Mykhailo Mudryk has been suspended for allegedly testing positive for a banned substance.
COLE PALMER 5
Palmer was reeling throughout both halves, constantly throwing his hands up in frustration at the lack of service from his teammates.
He blazed well over, when he did have a shot and the Blues didn’t have a single effort on target tonight.
PEDRO NETO 5
It was not clear what Neto’s purpose was on the pitch, he only really looked good at sprinting and still couldn’t beat Tariq Lamptey in a 1v1.
CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU 5
Nkunku did a very good job at jogging around and not doing a lot. Blues would probably rather see Jackson starting if he wasn’t also out injured.
SUBS:
JADON SANCHO 5
Sancho looks as though he is doing what he did at Manchester United, starting well but going off the boil. In his last 11 games across all competitions, he has nabbed just one assist.
KIERNAN DEWSBURY-HALL – 6
READ MORE SUN STORIES
REECE JAMES – 6
TYRIQUE GEORGE – 6
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
