Brighton 2-1 Chelsea: Rutter runs the show to send The Seagulls through

One week after losing 7-0 against Nottingham Forest, Brighton put their humiliation at The City Ground behind them to come back from a goal down and beat Chelsea 2-1.

Goals from Georginio Rutter and Kaoru Mitoma mean that Enzo Maresca has been dealt a blow, with Chelsea knocked out in the fourth round of the FA Cup despite an early own goal from Bart Verbruggen.

As it happened

It had been goals galore across the games in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon and it was no different at The Amex Stadium. Chelsea took an early lead after what seemed like a pre-arranged corner routine saw Jadon Sancho hit the ball back towards Cole Palmer, where it looked likely that Verbruggen would collect a fizzed ball heading into the six-yard box, but he was only able to parry it into his own net after misjudging the trajectory of the ball.

Fortunately for the home side, his error was quickly cancelled out when Rutter headed home for his seventh goal in a Brighton shirt. Joel Veltman found Rutter with a whipped cross placed perfectly for the attacker, who expertly found the bottom corner.

The sides were set up for an end-to-end affair which had the hallmarks of a classic cup tie, and one with some edge to it. Tempers were starting to flare, with referee Jarred Gillet serving out three yellow cards between the teams before they were even 30 minutes in.

Christopher Nkunku was deputising for the injured Nicolas Jackson, and while there’s no doubting the ability that he has with the ball, his willingness to roam from his position meant that at times Chelsea were missing a focal point up front. Both sides possessed a threat on the counter but as the clock crept towards halftime, a lack of cutting edge from either had been starting to become apparent.

Following the break, it was Brighton who were on the ascendancy, looking to break with pace whenever they could. That trait would see them soon take the lead.

Chelsea were struggling to clear the ball and Brighton’s first goal-scorer Rutter picked up a loose ball, quickly playing through Kaoru Mitoma, who poked his shot past Robert Sánchez.

While the away side were having more possession in the second half, they were struggling to make it count and create any clear-cut chances. Against a side that had lost 7-0 in their last fixture, Chelsea were struggling to break them down.

If the away side were to at least take the tie to extra time, it would most likely come from either of their two wingers fresh off the bench being played in behind. Since coming on, Noni Madueke and Tyrique George had caused concern amongst the Brighton backline when darting in behind, but time was running out.

Tariq Lamptey has endured a tough time with fitness and consistency as of late, but playing on the left side of the defence against his former club, the full back put in a solid defensive display and was up to the task.

As they reached the final moments of additional time the objective was simple for Brighton – get the ball near the corner flag. The hosts were able to keep breaking with pace and they realised that rather than going for a third to seal the match, the sensible option was to try and see the game out and ensure that Chelsea touched the ball as little as possible. And it worked.

As the final whistle was blown and Freed From Desire rang around The Amex, their recent humiliation against Nottingham Forest felt like a lifetime ago. This was undoubtedly a big win for Fabian Hürzeler after such a heavy defeat, but a win and performance like this will help him on the way to win over any doubters of his credentials.

Meanwhile, it will be a big disappointment for Maresca to see Chelsea’s chances of winning a domestic trophy ended so early. There is, of course, the UEFA Conference League and the opportunity to become the first club to win all three European trophies still to play for, but an early, lacklustre exit from the FA Cup wasn’t part of the plan.

Brighton will discover their fifth round opponents in the draw on February 10th.

The lineups

BHA: Verbruggen; Veltman, Dunk, Van Hecke, Lamptey; Baleba, Hinshelwood; Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Welbeck

CHE: Sánchez; Gusto, Tosin, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Dewsbury-Hall; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Nkunku