Brighton vs Chelsea Player Ratings: Minteh Shines as Blues Suffer 3-0 Defeat

Brighton & Hove Albion have left Chelsea clueless once again and eased to a 3-0 win in the Premier League at the AmEx Stadium on Friday night. The home side kept the Blues away from their goal and Enzo Maresca’s side ended the night without a single shot on target.

When nothing was working for the home side, Bart Verburuggen took Route One, and it worked like a chard. Kaoru Mitoma left Trevoh Chalobah searching for the ball with a world-class first touch before burling his shot past the Chelsea goalkeeper from outside the box.

Enzo Fernandez pulled Chelsea level in the 36th minute with a brilliant header, but the referee immediately ruled out the goal. He saw a push on Joel Veltmen and VAR stuck with the on-field decision.

Yankuba Minteh then made things worse for Chelsea by scoring Brighton’s second of the game a minute later. A cross from Mitoma was almost deflected in by Levi Colwill but it started a pinball inside the six-yard box before the Brighton man left Marc Cucurella on the floor before slotting it in.

The scoreline remained intact until the hour mark when Brighton broke away. Chelsea dealt well with the situation but Colwill was pushed to the floor by Welbeck but the referee did not see it as a foul.

The Englishman sat on the floor and did not move as Brighton charged into the box. Minteh danced around the defenders before a brilliant 1-2 with Welbeck to score the third goal of the match.

The result leaves Chelsea 4th in the table with 43 pints and they could slip to 5th or 6th this weekend if AFC Bournemouth win and there is a winning in the Manchester City vs Newcastle United clash.

Brighton have moved to 8th in the table with the win and are now just 6 points behind the Blues. The 3-0 scoreline has also helped them get the goal difference to zero.

Brighton & Hove Albion Player Ratings

GK – Bart Verburuggen – 7

Did not have to make a single save in the first half and ended up getting an assist instead. He went from scoring an own goal in the FA Cup tie to producing a positive output for his side in the week.

RB – Joel Veltman – 7

His Oscar-worthy dive helped Brighton keep their lead and ruled out Chelsea’s equalizer. That proved to be a big moment in the game as his side scored their second goal a minute later, and that changed everything.

CB – Jan Paul van Hecke – 7

Did not have to do anything today as he was just strolling around. Never broke a sweat today and won all his duels.

CB – Adam Webster – 7

He too had very little to do in the defensive third and came closest to score a goal for Chelsea. However, there was nothing the own goal would have done as they were 3-0 up with just minutes left.

LB – Tariq Lamptey – 7

He was up and down the flank today and never put a foot wrong. He even came close to scoring a goal today and showed his former side what they were missing.

CDM – Carlos Baleba – 8.5

A memorable performance for the youngster he outclassed everyone in the midfield. It never looked like he was going to lose a duel today, and he never gave the Chelsea players any space to breathe.

CDM – Jan Hinshelwood – 7

He stayed back and never went out of position. His positioning troubled Cole Palmer, and that helped Brighton massively today.

RM – Yankuba Minteh – 9

He was ruthless inside the box and scored with both his attempts. He danced around the Chelsea defenders every time he drove near the box and was the man of the match today despite hardly getting on the ball.

CAM – Georginio Rutter – 7

He was isolated most of the time and never looked like he was getting anything right.

LM – Kaoru Mitoma – 8.5

A world-class first touch saw him create his own chance and scored with a stunning strike. He was relentless on the left flank and was ready to charge into the box at every chance. Male Gusto and Reece James had to keep an eye on him throughout the game and could not go forward as he was getting space at the back.

ST – Danny Welbeck – 7.5

Did not have a single shot on target today but that was the least of Brighton’s concerns. They would be delighted with his performance as he was causing trouble in and around the box and also assisted both goals by Minteh.

SUB – Diego Gomez – 7.5

Sat back and continued what Hinshelwood was doing to irritate Cole Palmer.

SUB – Joao Pedro – 5

Had to glorious chances to score but both his shots were way off target.

SUB – Matt O’Riley – 5

Hardly got on the ball.

SUB – Yasin Ayari – 7.5

Came close to scoring despite coming on for the last 5 minutes. Jorgensen deflected his shot onto the post.

SUB – Simon Adingra – 5

Hardly got on the ball.

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Chelsea Player Ratings

GK – Filip Jorgensen – 6

He should have better for all the goals today, but none were a result of his mistakes either. He was not protected enough by the defenders, and his worst mistake was unpunished by Joao Pedro, who missed an open goal.

RB – Malu Gusto – 5.5

He dealt with Mitoma well when needed and there was very little he could do about the goals. The Frenchman was taken off just about then hour mark for Reece James.

CB – Trevoh Chalobah – 5

Rather poor today and was dancing in the box most of the time. He cannot be blamed for the first goal, though he was the closest to Mitoma, but he could have done much better for the others.

CB – Levi Colwill – 5

Sat on the pitch and complained from nearly 30 yards away as Brighton scored their 3rd goal of the night. He was decent against Welbeck, but should have done better for the goals they conceded.

LB – Marc Cucurella – 6

Even a blind person in the stadium or those near by the stadium would have known every time Cucurella got on the ball. The Brighton fans loved booing him throughout the match and it got in his head.

CDM – Moises Caicedo – 6

A night to forget on his return to Brighton. He was all trying to close down and did a lot of good, but had to be taken off as he was under a lot of pressure after picking up a booking.

CDM – Enzo Fernandez – 6

Not the performance he would like to watch again. Got Chelsea’s only shot on target today, but the goal was ruled out for a ‘push’ on Veltmen.

RW – Noni Madueke – 6

Started the game well but got injured. A hamstring injury while he was creating a chance for Cole Palmer, and he was off in the 21st minute.

CAM – Christopher Nkunku – 4.5

Jogged around the pitch for the full 90 minutes and never got close to scoring. He

LW – Pedro Neto – 3

Played over an hour but could not do anything in the game. Had two shots in the game – none on target nor did he create a chance for his teammates.

ST – Cole Palmer – 6

Started the game as a False 9 today and never got the help from his teammates. he was trying to create chances, but much like shits shots today, everything went out for a goal kick.

SUB – Jadon Sancho – 5

Came on for Noni Madueke early in the game after the winger got injured. However, that was the only time the cameras had to spot him as he was hardly involved in the game.

SUB – Reece James – 6

Came on for Malo Gusto and handled Mitoma well. The Brighton star had just one shot after the Chelsea club captain came on the pitch.

SUB – Tyrique George – 7

The only bright spark this evening for Chelsea. The youngster did more than Sancho and Neto combined and was making runs in behind the Brighton defenders. He tried creating chances as well and his cross was almost deflected in by Adam Webster.

SUB – Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 5

Came on for Moises Caicedo today and never managed to do anything. Hardly got on the ball and was just trying to get close to the Brighton players. However, the ball was past him or passed around even before he got close.

Manager – Enzo Maresca – 5

Made a couple of good tactical changes but was not proactive enough. He sat back and watched his players fail on the pitch.

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