Mitoma’s Brilliance Leads Brighton to Victory Over Lackluster Chelsea

Kaoru Mitoma’s stunning performance inspired Brighton to a crucial win against a struggling Chelsea side, highlighting the Blues’ ongoing struggles in the Premier League.

Brighton secured a 3-0 victory over struggling Chelsea, with Japan’s forward Kaoru Mitoma delivering a potential Premier League Goal of the Season contender and Yankuba Minteh scoring twice on Friday.

Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea team put on one of their most disappointing performances of the season, suffering their second defeat in a week at the Amex Stadium.

Mitoma scored the decisive goal as Brighton eliminated Chelsea from the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-1 win last weekend.

He once more troubled the Blues with a stunning display of skill in the first half, and then Gambia winger Minteh scored on both sides of halftime.

In his debut season as manager following his move from Leicester, Maresca stated this week that Chelsea “deserve” to be in the Champions League. The club has set a goal for him to secure qualification within two years.

However, Chelsea’s third loss in their last four matches across all competitions dealt another setback to their aspirations of securing a top-four finish.

Maresca needs to address Chelsea’s consistently error-prone defense if the fourth-placed Blues, who are two points ahead of Manchester City and Newcastle, hope to meet their goals this season.

Having suffered a 7-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest in their last league match, Brighton had emerged victorious in just two of their previous twelve top-flight games.

The Seagulls have regained their momentum at Chelsea’s cost with two impressive victories.

Christopher Nkunku made just his sixth league start for Chelsea since joining the team in 2023, stepping in due to Nicolas Jackson’s absence. Jackson is sidelined with a hamstring injury that could keep him out for up to eight weeks.

Maresca had thought about changing Chelsea’s playing style to maximize the performance of the struggling Nkunku, opting to position him on the wings instead of in Cole Palmer’s central striker role.

Chelsea’s English midfielder, Cole Palmer (#20), and Argentinian midfielder Enzo Fernandez (#08) show their reactions following the team’s concession of a second goal in the Premier League match against Brighton & Hove Albion. The game took place at American Express Community Stadium in Brighton, southern England on February 14, 2025. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)

Starting the season strong with six goals in his first seven league games, Palmer went on to score eight more times over the next 17 matches, including two penalties.

Since Palmer’s red-hot start turned colder, Chelsea had shifted from early title contenders to hopefuls for a top-four finish.

Palmer once more seemed unsettled on the south coast, first shooting over from the edge of the area and then mishitting wide following a cross from Noni Madueke.

Moments later, Madueke left the field limping, further exacerbating Chelsea’s injury troubles.

Things got even worse for Maresca in the 27th minute when Brighton stunningly took the lead.

Bart Verbruggen’s long goal-kick was masterfully controlled by Mitoma, who exhibited an impressive touch as the ball descended over his shoulder.

That was only the beginning of Mitoma’s spellbinding display. With skillful finesse, he maneuvered the ball away from Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah and executed a superb low shot into the far corner from outside the box.

Chelsea came close to quickly leveling the score, but Enzo Fernandez’s header from Malo Gusto’s cross was disallowed due to a clear push by the midfielder.

Even that close call proved to be a false hope for Chelsea, as Brighton scored again in the 38th minute.

After losing possession deep in their own half, a lackluster Chelsea couldn’t bounce back as Danny Welbeck set up Minteh. He managed to slip past Marc Cucurella and fired the ball into the net from close range.

Maresca’s team was disorganized defensively, allowing Brighton to score their third goal in the 63rd minute.

After Chelsea’s unsuccessful appeal for a foul by Welbeck on Levi Colwill, the forward passed to Minteh, who skillfully maneuvered past Cucurella and scored with a powerful eight-yard strike.