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Chelsea 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 1
This time it was not even about Chelsea’s wastefulness. They barely created anything after taking the lead through Romelu Lukaku’s header in the first half and could have no complaints after this costly draw with Brighton, who thoroughly outplayed the European champions before Danny Welbeck came off the bench to earn them a deserved point in stoppage time.
Brighton had done everything but score before equalising and Thomas Tuchel did not look particularly surprised when Welbeck’s beautiful header sailed past Édouard Mendy. Tuchel knew that his side had not done enough. Chelsea were too timid after going ahead and their hopes of catching Manchester City are surely over after their third draw in four games.
The problems are mounting for Tuchel. Ben Chilwell is out for the rest of the season and Chelsea could be without Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva and Reece James when they host Liverpool on Sunday.
On the plus side there was more confidence to Chelsea’s forward play after their win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day. Fit and firing at last, Lukaku was in the mood after scoring against Villa. Dan Burn, in particular, looked uncomfortable whenever the ball reached the striker and it soon became clear that Chelsea were intent on playing off Lukaku, the presence of a target man encouraging Mason Mount to keep making dangerous runs into space.
Tuchel has been looking for those connections in attack all season. Under instructions to dart beyond Lukaku, Mount was a whirl of energy during the first half. The England midfielder almost broke through on the left during the early stages, only to mess up his final pass, and he would also see a low drive turned aside by Robert Sánchez after Lukaku had carved Brighton a part with a smart reverse pass.
There was, of course, more to Lukaku’s game than clever link-up play. Rarely the most ruthless of sides, Chelsea are banking on the Belgian’s goals turning this type of game in their favour. Indeed, the tension had been building before Lukaku gave them the lead in the 28th minute. Brighton were doing a decent job of frustrating Chelsea, who had just seen James limp off with a hamstring injury, and there was sizeable relief when Lukaku shrugged Neal Maupay to the floor and met Mount’s corner with an unstoppable header.
The goal stood despite Brighton’s complaints that Lukaku had fouled Maupay. It arrived at a good time. César Azpilicueta had struck a post after Sánchez flapped at a corner, but Chelsea certainly did not have it all their own way before the break. There was a nerviness in central defence with Silva missing and Brighton were quick to target Chelsea’s wing-backs, with Christian Pulisic unconvincing on the right and James given a torrid time by Tariq Lamptey before making way for Marcos Alonso.
The problem for Chelsea was that Tuchel has been forced to experiment because of Chilwell’s knee injury. They are not as balanced without Chilwell at left wing-back and the experiment of using the right-footed James on that flank did not work. Lamptey, impressive against his former side, kept darting past James and there were times when Chelsea did not seem to know how to handle Brighton’s right wing-back.
Brighton, who matched Chelsea by using three at the back, were typically full of good intentions. Yves Bissouma was a driving presence in central midfield and Graham Potter’s side almost equalised in the 38th minute. Mendy was required to respond sharply when Adam Lallana lashed a fierce effort on target.
Chelsea were increasingly edgy as half-time approached. Antonio Rüdiger, who always plays close to the edge, was fortunate not to be sent off for a wild challenge on Lamptey. Brighton had taken control and Chelsea, whose injury problems increased when Christensen had to be replaced by Trevoh Chalobah at half-time, spent much of the second half living on the edge.
Heaven knows how Brighton contrived not to score before the dying stages. Jakub Moder sent a dainty flick inches over the bar and Bissouma saw a rising drive pushed over Mendy.
At times it felt like Brighton were going through a shooting drill. Maupay zipped through before dragging an angled shot wide and the striker looked certain to equalise after fine play from Alexis Mac Allister left him with the goal at his mercy, only for Chalobah to make a vital block.
Chelsea had grown ragged, their loss of composure underlined by Callum Hudson-Odoi botching a chance to release Mount. Down on the touchline, Tuchel was incandescent. Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic were being overrun in midfield and Chelsea only restored a semblance of order when N’Golo Kanté came on for Hudson-Odoi.
Yet Brighton would not be denied. The game had just gone into stoppage time when Marc Cucurella crossed and Welbeck, rising between Chalobah and Rudiger, sent a brilliant header past Mendy. – Guardian