Chelsea were held to a goalless draw against Brighton in the Premier League earlier tonight.
The Blues had a glorious opportunity to close in on the likes of Leicester City with a win at home and two points dropped could be damaging to their top-four hopes.
Liverpool were held to a draw against Leeds last night and this was a chance for Thomas Tuchel’s side to pull further clear of the Reds in the top-four race.
The Blues were lucky to come away with a point eventually after the kind of performance, they put in.
Brighton were reasonably confident throughout the game and they managed to create better chances. The likes of Adam Lallana and Danny Welbeck could have easily won the game for the Seagulls on another day. Bissouma hit the post for the visitors as well.
Thomas Tuchel decided to start the game without specialist strikers and the likes of Timo Werner and Olivier Giroud were left on the bench. The Blues lacked sharpness and movement in the final third because of that.
Furthermore, they struggled to win the midfield duels constantly because of the absence of N’Golo Kante, who started on the bench.
Tuchel decided to start with an attacking unit of Ziyech, Havertz and Pulisic tonight. All three players are creators and they failed to provide the natural instinct and movement of a striker. Furthermore, neither of the three have been in good form this season and they were lacking in confidence as well.
Brighton did hand Chelsea a late advantage in the game when Ben White was sent off for a second yellow card but the Blues failed to make the most of the situation and grind out a win.
ESL Distraction
It seems Chelsea were distracted because of the chaos created by the European Super League. The Blues were one of the six Premier League clubs that agreed to participate in the breakaway tournament. There were massive protests from the fans outside Stamford Bridge when the players tried to enter the stadium before the game.
Yves Bissouma – star of the show
The Brighton midfielder was exceptional tonight and he managed to break up the Chelsea play constantly. He did well to shield the Brighton defenders and almost scored a stunning goal to win the game.
It would be surprising if Brighton managed to hold on to him beyond this season.
Line-ups
Chelsea
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rüdiger, Andreas Christensen, Mason Mount, Jorginho, Marcos Alonso (Callum Hudson-Odoi), Reece James, Kai Havertz (Timo Werner), Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech (Olivier Giroud).
Substitutes
César Azpilicueta, Emerson, N’Golo Kanté, Ben Chilwell, Édouard Mendy, Billy Gilmour.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Robert Sanchez, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster, Ben White, Yves Bissouma, Alexis Mac Allister (Neal Maupay), Pascal Gross, Dan Burn, Joël Veltman, Danny Welbeck (Jakub Moder), Leandro Trossard (Adam Lallana).
Substitutes
Jason Steele, Davy Propper, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, José Izquierdo, Andi Zeqiri, Steven Alzate.
