Chelsea get south coast blues again in bad defeat

Chelsea suffered a crippling sense of deja vu after Kaoru Mitoma’s eye-catching opener and Yankuba Minteh’s double earned Brighton a thumping 3-0 Premier League win at the Amex Stadium.

- ED ELLIOT

Six days on from slipping to an FA Cup fourth-round exit in Sussex, Enzo Maresca’s Blues were ripped apart as their pursuit of Champions League qualification was damaged by a repeat result.

Mitoma, who scored the winner in Saturday’s 2-1 triumph, produced a sensational first touch en route to rifling Albion into a 27th-minute lead before fellow winger Minteh struck either side of the break.

A miserable south-coast outing for fourth-placed Chelsea was compounded by an early injury for Noni Madueke and they have now taken just nine points from their last nine fixtures after failing to register an attempt on target.

Rampant Brighton, who were hammered 7-0 at Nottingham Forest just under a fortnight ago, climb to eighth in the table thanks to a first league success at home since early November.

Chelsea head coach Maresca claimed the chance to concentrate on top-flight commitments – and the Conference League – was a positive consequence of his side’s premature cup exit.