Chelsea vs Brighton player ratings: Dread, draws and dropped points

Chelsea hosted Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge and ended up dropping more points as a late equalizer from Danny Welbeck ensured that the game ended 1-1. The hosts dominated the opening half an hour and were rewarded as Romelu Lukaku put them in front via a Mason Mount corner. A major blow came for Chelsea when Reece James was forced off the field with a hamstring injury at the same time when Andreas Christensen too was struggling. Christensen had to be replaced too during the break, leaving the Blues short-handed in the second half.

Brighton started the brighter side in the second half and came close multiple times to scoring but couldn’t convert its chances. Just as the Seagulls were all over the hosts, Chelsea had the chance to score on the counter, but Callum Hudson-Odoi being one-on-one with the goalkeeper scuffed his chance of giving Chelsea a much-needed two-goal advantage. With Brighton dominating the Blues, Thomas Tuchel introduced N’Golo Kante to assert his dominance in the midfield but that was not enough as Welbeck scored a stoppage-time header to equalize. This goal effectively ended any title hopes the Blues had for the current league campaign.

Here’s how each Chelsea player fared against a dominant Brighton side:

Edouard Mendy (Goalkeeper): 7/10

The Senegalese international was one of the better players on the field for Chelsea. In the first half, Edouard Mendy had a few saves to make but all of them were straight to him. In the second half though, he was called into action more than he would have expected. Making save after save, Mendy kept the Blues in the game right until the stoppage time equalizer. If not for him, they might’ve dropped all three points.

Cesar Azpilicueta (Right centerback): 7/10

Cesar Azpilicueta made his 450th appearance for the Blues on Wednesday and almost opened the scoring in the 17′ when his scuffed shot struck the post. The Spaniard kept the defense line arranged and resolute as Brighton was all over the hosts’ majority of the time until the final few moments in the game.

Andreas Christensen (Centerback): 6/10

Starting in place of the injured Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen had a decent start to the game and didn’t have much to do in the opening for half an hour. But as Brighton started dominating the game, he picked up an injury. He played his way through it and made some crucial interceptions and blocks. In the end, Christensen was replaced by Trevoh Chalobah during the halftime break.

Antonio Rudiger (Left centerback): 7/10

Antonio Rudiger came in clutch many times for Chelsea with his last-ditch tackles and blocks. The German centerback blocked major goal-scoring chances from Tariq Lamptey and Neal Maupay during the game. He got booked for a lunging challenge on Lamptey in the first half. He maybe could have done a bit better to prevent Welbeck’s equalizer in the 91′.

Trevoh Chalobah (Centerback): 6/10

Chalobah came on due to another injury to Christensen during the halftime break. Playing in the center of the defense, Chalobah looked resilient and played well when Brighton was bombarding the Chelsea goal. He definitely could have done a bit better with the equalizing goal.