"Brighton" was fiercely unlucky, but he still won in London.

Chelsea is sad, but let's start with the good. The team finally managed to score! This could not be done in the previous four matches (59 hits - 0 goals). Against Brighton, the blond combination worked: Enzo Fernandez - Mudrik - Gallagher, who was helped by a rebound from the defender. To some extent, the owners were lucky in this episode.

If we talk about the match, Brighton looked like a team of a different level. It was both the visual feel of the game and just the stats. In the first half at Stamford Bridge, the guests had 68% of possession (although it leveled off to 60% at the end of the match). Chelsea lost on shots: 8:25 (on xG: 0.60 vs. 2.64).

It must be considered that the Brighton players hit the post twice (although Chelsea also hit the post once). And in the 21st minute, there were grounds for appointing a penalty to the hosts' goal – Pulisic touched the ball in his penalty area with his hand. Perhaps VAR thought that the American was being pushed by his opponent.

Welbeck and Enciso scored against Brighton. The second goal was wildly successful. The 19-year-old Paraguayan (probably later sold for tens of millions) powerfully shot into the "nine" from a long distance. It's funny that this is how the winning goal was scored because there were many more apparent opportunities.

For Chelsea, the season is effectively over. The third game under Lampard after returning is the third defeat. Apparently, the team will fly out of the Champions League in the next match. Getting into European competition for the next season will likely be impossible. Even considering that seventh place can give a ticket to the Conference League (with the victory of Manchester United or City in the FA Cup).

After the match of the 31st round, Brighton confidently holds the seventh line, ahead of Chelsea by 10 points (plus a game in hand). Despite the sale of leading players (Cucureglia, Bissum, and Trossard) and the forced replacement of the coach during the season, the team is close to getting into European competition for the first time in the club's 122-year history.

15.04.2023