Brighton 2 Chelsea 1: Misfiring Blues dumped out of FA Cup despite Seagulls keeper Verbruggen giving them head start
ENZO MARESCA can forget about Wembley this year after Lady Luck turned her back on Chelsea — as Kaoru Mitoma sent the Seagulls soaring. Two jammy goals saw Brighton come from behind to beat West Ham last Monday and climb back into the Premier League’s top four. PAKaoru Mitoma hails his classy winner for Brighton[/caption] PAWinger Mitoma put Brighton in front just before the hour[/caption] GettyEnzo Maresca couldn’t believe it as his Blues stuttered out[/caption] And Maresca’s team were handed the perfect start in this FA Cup tie with another slice of good fortune when Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen scored an own goal after only five minutes. But then the wind of fate changed direction and Chelsea cracked to blow their lead and the weaknesses in Maresca’s expensive but young squad were exposed. Georginio Rutter levelled soon after and then Japanese winger Mitoma — a £75million target for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr — hit the 57th-minute winner. Injuries to strikers Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu, plus the failure to sign a new forward in the January window, had left toothless Blues reliant on Cole Palmer — as they so often are. There is mitigation in the fact Brighton’s players were on a redemption mission after being annihilated at Nottingham Forest last weekend and were determined to restore pride to this part of the South Coast. But their hopes of restoring the faith of the fans got off to the worst start possible. Palmer had already had one shot tipped over the bar when he was delighted to receive such an early gift from the hosts with a goal that gave them a perfect start. He took the corner in the fifth minute that was fed out to Malo Gusto on the unfamiliar left side of the box, who in turn squared it to Jadon Sancho – on the unfamiliar right side of the box. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS His precision, diagonal ball arced onto 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. A dream start for Chelsea 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 goal at home to West Ham was lost on no one. Not that Palmer doesn’t 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. Sanchez was brought back into the fold after being dropped for Monday’s Premier League as punishment for a string of blunders. But it’s 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 Georginio’s goal they could sing in celebration as an all-Premier League Cup tie took on extra life with the game evenly balanced under the lights. AFPSeagulls’ keeper Bart Verbruggen bagged Chelsea’s own-goal opener[/caption] GettyCole Palmer saw his shot deflect in to put the Blues ahead[/caption] Even more so when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, making a rare starting appearance, was booked for a bruising lunge on 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 was rattled enough to see their initial lead overturned into a deficit on 57 minutes and turn the tie on its head. Winger Karou Mitoma was put clear on the left flank by a laser ball from midfield by Georginio – the standout player of the game. His cross was half beaten away, where Tariq Lamptey had a dig against a wall of legs. But Brighton’s man of the night was there again and clipped a cheeky ball over the top for Mitouma to race through and c
ENZO MARESCA can forget about Wembley this year after Lady Luck turned her back on Chelsea — as Kaoru Mitoma sent the Seagulls soaring.
Two jammy goals saw Brighton come from behind to beat West Ham last Monday and climb back into the Premier League’s top four.
And Maresca’s team were handed the perfect start in this FA Cup tie with another slice of good fortune when Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen scored an own goal after only five minutes.
But then the wind of fate changed direction and Chelsea cracked to blow their lead and the weaknesses in Maresca’s expensive but young squad were exposed.
Georginio Rutter levelled soon after and then Japanese winger Mitoma — a £75million target for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr — hit the 57th-minute winner.
Injuries to strikers Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu, plus the failure to sign a new forward in the January window, had left toothless Blues reliant on Cole Palmer — as they so often are.
There is mitigation in the fact Brighton’s players were on a redemption mission after being annihilated at Nottingham Forest last weekend and were determined to restore pride to this part of the South Coast.
But their hopes of restoring the faith of the fans got off to the worst start possible.
Palmer had already had one shot tipped over the bar when he was delighted to receive such an early gift from the hosts with a goal that gave them a perfect start.
He took the corner in the fifth minute that was fed out to Malo Gusto on the unfamiliar left side of the box, who in turn squared it to Jadon Sancho – on the unfamiliar right side of the box.
His precision, diagonal ball arced onto 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.
A dream start for Chelsea 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 goal at home to West Ham was lost on no one.
Not that Palmer doesn’t 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.
Sanchez was brought back into the fold after being dropped for Monday’s Premier League as punishment for a string of blunders.
But it’s 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 Georginio’s goal they could sing in celebration as an all-Premier League 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 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 was rattled enough to see their initial lead overturned into a deficit on 57 minutes and turn the tie on its head.
Winger Karou Mitoma was put clear on the left flank by a laser ball from midfield by Georginio – the standout player of the game.
His cross was half beaten away, where Tariq Lamptey had a dig against a wall of legs.
But Brighton’s man of the night was there again and clipped a cheeky ball over the top for Mitouma 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 7-0 by Nottingham Forest just eight days ago.
While Wembley is gone for another year, Maresca can still dream of Wroclaw with Chelse favourites to win the Conference League and resume their campaign next month.
