What a difference a week has made for Fabian Hürzeler. There were plenty of Brighton supporters who would have justifiably viewed this fixture with some trepidation given their abject performance in the record Premier League defeat against Nottingham Forest.
But despite falling behind to a dreadful error from Bart Verbruggen when he spilled Cole Palmer’s cross, a rousing comeback inspired by record signing Georgino Rutter made it a night to remember against opponents that are not the most popular in these parts given recent history between the two clubs.
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There were wild celebrations when Kaoru Mitoma put them ahead midway through the second half after Rutter had equalised with a clever header, with Hürzeler enjoying his moment of redemption as his side recorded their first win here since beating Manchester City at the start of November. For Enzo Maresca, this was another disappointing away performance from his side, who have now gone five matches on the road without victory.
Hürzeler’s watchword this week following the 7-0 humiliation against Nottingham Forest had been “intensity”, with the Brighton manager admitting that there had been some honest exchanges with his players in training. He was relieved to welcome back midfield lynchpin Carlos Baleba to a more conventional starting lineup than the one that began the game at the City Ground, although it was a surprise to see João Pedro left on the bench despite his recent dip in form.
Maresca usually likes to rotate almost his entire side for Cup matches but this was more a hybrid team that featured six changes from the comeback win against Graham Potter’s West Ham last week, with Christopher Nkunku starting up front. Potter was one of 11 players or staff poached by Chelsea in the space of 17 months and the antipathy towards them clearly remains among the home supporters, with Moisés Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Robert Sánchez - restored in goal after losing his place last week - roundly booed from the first whistle.
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They and Hürzeler could hardly believe it when the visitors were gifted the lead inside the opening five minutes by Verbruggen’s blunder. The Brighton goalkeeper had already been called into a save when he tipped Palmer’s shot over the crossbar and there seemed to be no danger when Palmer volleyed the ball across goal from Jadon Sancho’s pass. Yet somehow Verbruggen only managed to divert it into his own net.
Fortunately for him, Brighton were level six minutes later when Rutter’s precise header found the bottom corner from Joel Veltman’s cross. Suddenly Chelsea found themselves on the back foot as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was booked for a bad foul on Kaoru Mitoma. There was another flashpoint when, to the delight of Brighton’s fans, Cucurella was unceremoniously shoved to the ground by Veltman and he was also shown a yellow card. Nkunku surprisingly decided against shooting when he was played in on goal and Palmer’s looping header from his pass missed the target in the closest they had come to restoring their lead. At the other end, Cucurella had to clear the danger when Rutter cut the ball back across goal following a lung-bursting run down the left.
Brighton captain Lewis Dunk was withdrawn at the break having received treatment during the first half but Jack Hinshelwood shrugged off the pain when he was struck in the chest by a fierce shot from Neto at the start of the second half. But it was the hosts who went ahead after a period of incessant pressure that began when Baleba pirouetted on the edge of his own area and then released Yankuba Minteh down the right. A clever piece of improvisation from Rutter after Tariq Lamprey’s shot was blocked played in Mitoma and managed to flick the ball into the net over the diving Sánchez after chesting it into his own path.
Maresca responded by introducing Enzo Fernández off the bench and the Argentina midfielder’s first act was to direct a shot well off target. There was an even bigger cheer when Caicedo was booked for clattering into Tariq Lamptey as Brighton probed for a third. Pedro thought he should have had a penalty when he was shoved over by Cucurella inside the area but referee Jarred Gillet waved away his appeals.
