Chelsea had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Brighton for their final game of 2021. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
They did all they could, but it was just not enough as Chelsea had to settle for a point against a tough Brighton and Hove Albion side.
Thomas Tuchel had made his frustrations clear playing through the festive break with Covid-19 and injury issues. Yet, the Chelsea boss fielded a strong starting XI against the Seagulls. They started out brightly, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount attacking the opposition goal constantly with crosses.
However, Tuchel’s worst nightmare came to life after Reece James pulled up following a rough tackle by former Chelsea boy Tariq Lamptey. The full-back had to be substituted moments after it felt like Andreas Christensen was also going to be forced into a change. Regardless, Marcos Alonso was introduced into the game.
Minutes after the change, the Blues won a corner, and Romelu Lukaku headed home for the second consecutive league game. The gaffer rejoiced as the men in blue were given a cushion to fight for on the night. But Brighton grew into the game and took possession of the ball. Fortunately, they could not create anything meaningful in the first half.
The second half began, and Tuchel brought on Trevoh Chalobah for Christensen, who was labouring in the dying minutes of the opening half. The Seagulls came out fighting and were first to every second ball and left very little margin for error. Adam Lallana and Yves Bissouma were dominating the midfield battle as Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho were labouring on.
It was clear that several Chelsea stars were suffering from fatigue. The East Sussex-based side dominated the opening 20 minutes of the second half and Tuchel then brought N’Golo Kante to gain some sort of control over the game. Sure enough, the Blues started creating again and were not allowing Brighton to charge ahead.
The clock ticked 90, and the German manager believed his side had all three points in the bag. However, a minute later, Danny Welbeck got the equalizer with a looping header. The visiting side deserved it, considering they were arguably the better side on the night.
Liverpool lost against Leicester City last night, and this was our chance to go ahead before hosting the Merseyside club at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Moreover, the gap between us and Man City has only increased, making the title challenge further out of reach. Let us now see how some fans reacted on Twitter to the tiring 1-1 draw against Graham Potter and co.
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