[ad_1]
Chelsea must now prepare for their big trip to West Ham this weekend which will go a long way towards deciding who reaches the Champions League. The Blues are still favourites if they want to be a part of it. Thankfully it now looks like they do. That’s all for now. Goodbye!
This draw leaves Chelsea fourth in the Premier League table, ahead of West Ham United on goal difference. Tuchel’s team are still on track but they have some soul searching to do. It’s a welcome point for Brighton who stay 16th, seven points above Fulham now. The Seagulls may be slightly wasteful in front of goal but they play the right way and are surely too solid to go down.
Brighton claim their first ever point at Stamford Bridge after catching Chelsea on an off day. Potter’s men were defensively resolute and had the best chances to win this with Lallana firing wide and Welbeck hitting the post. Chelsea lose momentum in the top four race. They have more pressing things to deal with.
90′ + 4′ FULL-TIME: CHELSEA 0-0 BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
90′ + 4′ Brighton’s corner comes in and Chelsea see it out. That’s it!
90′ + 3′ James floats the free-kick into the box and Sanchez gratefully claims Giroud’s header. Brighton sense one last opportunity and force a corner as Maupay’s shot is blocked.
90′ + 2′ RED CARD FOR WHITE! Brighton overcommit forward and White sticks out a leg at the countering Hudson-Odoi. Hudson-Odoi goes down and White picks up his second yellow card. It’s an inevitable red. Brighton will play the last few minutes with 10 men.
90′ Brighton are three minutes away from their first ever draw at Stamford Bridge.
89′ Werner’s left perplexed as he takes a loose touch and lets the ball roll out for a Brighton goal-kick. The German’s still not found his best form in a Chelsea shirt yet. That said, no one in Chelsea blue has played particularly well here.
88′ Pulisic lashes towards goal from the right of the box. It’s a powerful shot but it doesn’t beat Sanchez at his near post.
J. Moder
D. Welbeck
86′ Brighton substitution. Their Polish midfielder Moder replaces the hardworking Welbeck.
85′ Hudson-Odoi beats his man down the left and finds Giroud running towards the near post. The Frenchman fires wide.
83′ There’s no sign of a Chelsea reaction yet, which is dangerous for them. Brighton have had six shots to Chelsea’s one since half-time.
81′ Chelsea have been handed a big reprieve. Brighton should be ahead by now. Tuchel’s team have played a little sluggishly all game.
79′ Chelsea play themselves into trouble again! Welbeck sweeps an effort towards the top right corner from outside the box. It deflects off Rudiger and hits the post! The ball lands back to Welbeck whose snap shot is desperately blocked. Kepa gets down to save Lallana’s follow-up.
78′ Chance for Brighton! Chelsea make a mistake at the back and Maupay pounces on it, finding Lallana. Lallana shimmies towards the centre of the box and curls just wide to the left. That’s the best chance of the game by far.
O. Giroud
H. Ziyech
77′ Chelsea make an attacking change. Giroud comes on for Ziyech..
76′ Bissouma goes for a bouncing ball with Christensen and catches the Dane. The referee lets Bissouma off.this time.
75′ Werner and Ziyech look to revive their winning combination from Chelsea’s recent FA Cup semi-final as Ziyech tries to feed the German. Brighton’s centre-backs successfully get in the way.
N. Maupay
A. Mac Allister
74′ Brighton substitution. Their leading scorer Maupay comes on for Mac Allister.
B. White
Yellow Card
73′ White’s booked for a high swipe on Mount. The Brighton defender can have no complaints.
71′ Bissouma winds up and fires over from range. The Malian’s energy has certainly caught the eye, even if his shooting hasn’t.
70′ Brighton’s corner is unremarkable. Up the other end, Ziyech’s fizzed ball towards the near post is caught by Sanchez.
68′ Brighton get a free-kick way out and Bissouma smashes it into Chelsea’s defensive wall, earning the visitors their second corner of the game. Chelsea haven’t had one yet.
T. Werner
K. Havertz
67′ Chelsea go for a more orthodox striker too. Werner comes on for Havertz.
C. Hudson-Odoi
Marcos Alonso
67′ The anonymous Alonso is the player to make way for Hudson-Odoi, who’ll play at right wing-back. James moves to the left flank.
66′ James’ touch lets him down as Havertz looks to send him speeding down the right. Here come those Chelsea substitutions.
64′ Chelsea are working the ball around but it’s all in front of Brighton. The visitors are making Chelsea look a little toothless, hence Tuchel’s imminent changes.
63′ Chelsea are getting Werner and Hudson-Odoi ready to come on. Burn heads a cross from the left away.
62′ Pulisic turns smartly and tries to set Chelsea away but the American’s pass is not as clever. Brighton put a nice passing triangle together and Lallana’s ball for Welbeck is a touch too powerful.
A. Lallana
L. Trossard
60′ Brighton make their substitution while Pulisic is seen to. Lallana replaces Trossard.
59′ Chelsea burst upfield quickly as Mount looks to slide in Pulisic. White gets across and puts Pulisic off shooting, allowing Sanchez to claim. Pulisic is hurt in the process.
58′ Ziyech’s pass out to James is cut out. Brighton have the opportunity to counter but the ball to Trossard isn’t right. Brighton are prepping Lallana to come on.
57′ Now it’s Brighton’s turn to attack. Webster has Mac Allister to his right and can’t squeeze a pass through to him. The visitors waft a cross towards Welbeck. There’s too much power on it for the striker to reach it though.
56′ Havertz tries to jink past Dunk and into the box but Dunk uses his strength to shepherd the ball out of play.
54′ Zouma booms out wide for Ziyech to chase but the Moroccan is judged to be offside.
52′ James fires in a cross from the right but can’t get it past the tall frame of Burn. Chelsea are gradually upping the ante.
50′ Ziyech gets past Webster for the first time in the match and finds Pulisic to the right of the box. Brighton block and scramble the ball away from danger. Chelsea incursions behind Brighton’s defence have been rare.
48′ Brighton are looking as carefree on the ball as they did in the first half. Trossard’s intercepted and the visitors get a throw-in.
46′ Chelsea get this game going again. No changes at half-time.
Chelsea had just three shots in the opening 45 minutes, their lowest first-half tally in the Premier League since their defeat to Liverpool last September. The Blues have won just two of their last 13 league games that were goalless at half-time, drawing the last three such games 0-0. Brighton have lost just one of their last 13 such games. Let’s hope this game livens up.
Chelsea and Brighton head in at half-time in a game that’s been more memorable for events off the pitch than on it so far. Chelsea have had slightly better chances to take the lead, forcing Sanchez to save from Havertz and Zouma in particular, but Brighton have had their moments too.
45′ + 2′ HALF-TIME: CHELSEA 0-0 BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
45′ + 2′ Ziyech is back on his feet. Bissouma trots over to apologise. That’s all for now.
45′ + 1′ Ziyech is down holding his face after the all-action Bissouma accidentally catches the Chelsea midfielder with a flailing arm. The physios come on to give Ziyech some treatment.
44′ Webster fouls Ziyech in Chelsea’s half. There’ll be one minute of added time in this half.
42′ Chelsea handle the initial corner. Gross’ second ball isn’t as good as he would have liked it to be. Brighton will be pleased with how this half has gone for them though.
41′ Welbeck scampers forward and lays the ball off to keep Brighton moving. Veltman cuts back to Bissouma who shoots first-time. Jorginho sticks out a leg to loop it up and over. It’ll be a Brighton corner.
39′ James is fouled by Burn down Chelsea’s right. Mount and Ziyech discuss who’ll take it before Mount swings it in. Brighton deal with it easily.
37′ Alonso’s caught offside from Rudiger’s direct ball forward. Brighton are managing Chelsea’s threat well.
36′ Brighton keep the pressure on after Chelsea clear the initial free-kick. Bissouma’s shot is wayward and Trossard’s speculative effort is caught by Kepa.
K. Zouma
Yellow Card
35′ Zouma’s the next Chelsea player to get booked after Welbeck nips in behind him and the Frenchman hauls him down. Brighton have a free-kick to the right of the D.
Jorginho
Yellow Card
35′ Jorginho, Chelsea’s captain for the game, slides in on Bissouma on the edge of Brighton’s box and earns himself a yellow card. Bissouma’s guilty of waving an imaginary card at the referee.
33′ Bissouma dives into a 50/50 ball with Rudiger and takes the German out. Chelsea aren’t happy but a free-kick is all they will get.
31′ James sends a hopeful cross into the box with not much to aim at. Sanchez ventures out of his goal to gather it.
29′ Veltman is closed down too eagerly by Rudiger and ends up getting the foul. Chelsea are having to play the waiting game.
27′ Not much is going on, to be honest. There have only been four shots altogether so far.
25′ Bissouma reads Ziyech’s mind and intercepts the Moroccan’s ball forward. Brighton can’t do anything with it though and soon hand possession back to Chelsea.
23′ It’s been quite a free-flowing game so far, albeit one without much incident as Mac Allister has a shot blocked. James darts in behind Burn to reach Ziyech’s nicely weighted pass. Burn dives in to win the ball and knock it off James for a goal-kick.
22′ James crosses into a decent area. Unfortunately for him there’s no one in Chelsea blue to get onto the end of it.
20′ Sanchez makes a point-blank save from Ziyech as Webster makes a mistake in a dangerous area again. Zouma unleashes a rocket from distance but Sanchez is back in place to catch it.
18′ Jorginho tries to pick out James down the right but James is outmuscled by the massive Burn. Brighton’s recent defensive record shows they’re not going to be an easy side for Chelsea to break down.
16′ Brighton are very tidy on the ball. It’s admirable. Webster gives it away in his own half though and Pulisic shoots on the swivel from just outside the box. It’s off-target.
15′ You wonder whether all the controversy of the last few days has had an impact on the Chelsea players. They can’t have had the smoothest run-up to this game.
14′ Brighton earn a free-kick down their left. Gross looks to slide Welbeck in down the channel rather than loft it into the box. It’s a clever idea if unsuccessful on this occasion.
12′ Bissouma hands the ball straight to Havertz with a sloppy pass back. Chelsea race forward and Alonso can’t quite reach a cross intended for him at the far post.
10′ Havertz is almost in a position to poke Chelsea into the lead as he latches onto a pass over the top. Sanchez races out of his goal and is unable to catch it. Luckily for the Brighton keeper a teammate is there to mop up.
8′ Burn clatters a cross against James and earns a throw-in for Brighton down their left. Brighton keep possession there for a while before Trossard gives away a soft free-kick.
6′ Pulisic skips over a challenge in the centre of midfield but Trossard gets back to steal the ball. It’s all fairly even in these early stages.
4′ Chelsea are beginning to get comfortable on the ball, popping it around without a care in the world. Tuchel’s side have looked rock-solid of late.
2′ Brighton get the first attack of the game as Burn hangs the ball up into the box from the left. Kepa, continuing as Chelsea’s starting goalkeeper for now, claims it easily.
1′ The players are finally out at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are in their royal blue home kit. Brighton are in their yellow and white away colours. The referee
Stuart Attwell blows his whistle and Brighton get this game underway!
Kick-off for this game has been pushed back by 15 minutes. That’s due to Super League-related protests outside Stamford Bridge delaying the players from getting into the ground.
Chelsea will be confident of getting an important win here which will boost their top four hopes. The Blues are unbeaten in their last 14 games against Brighton, a record dating back to 1933. Brighton have lost all six of their visits here to Stamford Bridge, failing to score in all of them, while Chelsea have never gone behind in these sides’ seven Premier League meetings. Will recent events motivate Brighton though?
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel continues with his squad rotation policy. There are four changes to the team that beat Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-final as Christensen, Zouma, Alonso and Pulisic start. Mendy returns to make the bench. There are three changes to Brighton’s starting 11 from that draw with Everton last week.
SUBS: Jose Izquierdo, Steven Alzate, Andi Zeqiri, Davy Propper, Neal Maupay, Jakub Moder, Jason Steele, Adam Lallana, Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION (3-4-3): Robert Sanchez; Ben White, Lewis Dunk (c), Adam Webster; Joel Veltman, Pascal Gross, Yves Bissouma, Dan Burn; Alexis Mac Allister, Danny Welbeck, Leandro Trossard.
SUBS: Billy Gilmour, Timo Werner, Edouard Mendy, N’Golo Kante, Cesar Azpilicueta, Olivier Giroud, Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Emerson.
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Kepa Arrizabalaga; Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger; Reece James, Jorginho (c), Mason Mount, Marcos Alonso; Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic.
Brighton enter this game 16th in the Premier League table, probably but not entirely safe from relegation. Graham Potter’s men continue to look defensively solid, securing their 10th clean sheet of the season last time out with a 0-0 draw against Everton. One more win for them would probably be enough to allow them to start planning for their next top-flight campaign.
Fresh from reaching the FA Cup final last week, Chelsea enter this game distracted by their involvement with – and apparent withdrawal from – the mooted Super League as they look to avenge their shock 5-2 loss to West Brom in their last Premier League home game. No doubt some football fans would want that scoreline to be repeated again here.
Hello! Welcome to our live text commentary of this Premier League match between Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge, London.
[ad_2]