Brighton and Hove Albion drew 1-1 with Chelsea at the Amex Stadium on New Year’s Day, as a stunning late goal from Alireza Jahanbakhsh grabbed the Seagulls a point.
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Chelsea lead early through Cesar Azpilicueta but the Blues wasted several chances and Brighton improved in the second half as they were unlucky not to grab all three points.
With the point Brighton have 24 points, while Chelsea now have 36.
3 things we learned
1. Jahanbakhsh in fine form: The Iranian playmaker was emotional when he scored his first PL goal against Bournemouth on Saturday and he lost the plot again after his amazing overhead kick goal. With two goals in two he has added cutting edge to his game and on the ball he has always shown plenty of quality. What a goal and what a few days for Jahanbakhsh.
2. Chelsea can’t find consistency: They haven’t won back-to-back games in all competitions since October and this is starting to become a concern for Frank Lampard. They followed up their big win at Spurs by losing against Southampton and their win at Arsenal has been followed up by a draw at Brighton. As Spurs, Man United and Wolves continue to find consistency below them in the table, Chelsea need to become ruthless or they risk blowing their top four chances.
3. Pulisic bright but snatches chances on return: Pulisic’s return to the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 14 was a good one as the USMNT winger cause Brighton plenty of problems with his dribbling and crosses into the box, but his final pass and shot was just a little too frantic and rushed. It seemed like he was trying to do a little too much instead of letting his instincts take over. He played well in his 66 minutes on the pitch and his hamstring looked fine, which is a huge plus.
Man of the Match: Kepa - Made some superb stops to deny Connolly and Maupay late on as Chelsea could have easily lost this game.
The first big chance of the game arrived but Reece James shanked his effort wide as the away team started well
But then Brighton youngster Steven Alzate burst into the box but his shot trickled just wide via deflection.
Chelsea then took the lead as a corner was kept alive by Abraham and Azpilicueta pounced to make it 1-0.
Moments later Dan Burn went down with a lengthy injury to his shoulder as Bernardo replaced him.
Chelsea continued to be a threat on the break in the first half as Abraham went close and Brighton hung in there, with Leandro Trossard denied by a flying save from Kepa.
Right on half time USMNT star Pulisic whipped an effort just wide of the far post as he was so close to doubling Chelsea’s lead.
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Brighton brought on Aaron Connolly at the break and looked more of a threat on the break, while Pulisic had a flurry of chances but Ryan saved one and the other two were off target.
Kepa denied Connolly with a fine save from close range after the Brighton forward controlled a low cross well as Brighton pushed hard for a late equalizer.
It arrived in spectacular fashion as Jahanbakhsh sent home a wonderful acrobatic overhead kick to make it 1-1 to send the Amex wild. What a goal.
Brighton could have nicked all three points late on but Kepa denied Maupay brilliantly as Chelsea had a great chance themselves but sub Callum Hudson-Odoi fired just wide.