Chelsea suffer back to back defeats under Enzo Maresca as Chelsea's disappointing start to the season gets worse.
What went wrong for Chelsea?
Chelsea coming into this game craving a win to get their season underway, A loss against one of the weakest United sides in recent history and a scrappy victory against Lincoln wasn't helping Maresca's case.
It started off perfectly for the Blues, They had their tails up from the very first minute of the game. Constant pressure, corners, shots and chances it felt like the early pressure was going to get rewarded very soon– and it did, 24 minutes into the game and Chelsea finally found a way to break Brighton down. Reece James floated a cross in from the right hand side which took a massive deflection of a Brighton defender, falling perfectly onto the head of Enzo Fernandez who made no mistake from close range to make it 1-0 to the hosts.
Where did it go wrong?
Chelsea ended the half at the same tempo, with Brighton barely threatening Robert Sanchez's goal and were struggling to make real inroads. Chelsea would have hoped to bring the same momentum into the second half, But yet again Chelsea prove to be their own worst enemies as they ran into trouble at the back.
A sloppy pass from Andrey Santos gifted possession away to Gomez, who is fouled by Chalobah at the edge of the box. After a VAR check– Chalobah is awarded a red card for the denial of a goal scoring opportunity. Which means Chelsea are down to 10 men for the second time in a week.
What followed was inevitable, wave after wave of Brighton pressure as they looked to get a goal to pull them level. Chelsea held firm until the 75th minute, when they were suddenly caught out. Mineh isolated Gusto on the left and floated in a delightful ball for Danny Welbeck to head home for the visitors.
Hürzeler’s side weren’t done yet, keeping their foot on the gas and relentlessly testing Chelsea’s defence. As the game moved into added time, the Blues clung on in hope of salvaging a point — but then came the sucker punch. Aiyari’s cross was nodded back into the danger zone by Wieffer, and De Cuyper rose to head it home, giving Brighton the lead for the first time on the night and breaking Chelsea hearts.
Chelsea fans thought that was that, however Welbeck had other plans as he pounced onto a loose ball and finished ruthlessly to add the icing on the cake for the Seagulls.
Maresca's thoughts.
Maresca: "For sure, you cannot continue to make mistakes. They are big mistakes that change games. Red cards today and United. We tried to adjust with Josh and Jorrel. They are fantastic talents but not with many games in the Premier League."
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) September 27, 2025
Where do Chelsea go next?
Chelsea welcome Benfica to the Bridge in a couple of days time which now looks like a must win game to release some pressure off the manager and his players.
The pressure seems to be growing on the manager, as many ask questions about the start that Chelsea have had. Next weekend sees Chelsea welcome defending champions Liverpool to the Bridge which seems like another game which Chelsea need to get something from.
In my opinion, Maresca should be given time. He has seen his plan go out of the window in the last two games due to silly red cards which have ruined whatever hope his team had of winning the game.
Long term injuries to important defensive and attacking players has meant inexperienced players in those positions. Chelsea's centre back options due to Chalobah's red are now reduced to just two, being Acheampong and Badiashile.
Maresca was told to find "internal solutions" when he saw his best centre half, Levi Colwill, side lined for at least 7-8 months. I still believe Maresca, with the time and the players coming back from injury could get this side to be playing some really good football and to challenge. But will he get the time? We shall wait and see.
