Graham Potter gives his verdict on Chelsea’s defeat against Brighton

Graham Potter gives his verdict on Chelsea’s defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion

Chelsea faced a stunning 4-1 thrashing from Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium. Graham Potter could not have experienced a worse return to the Sussex-based club.

The home side made their intentions very clear from the first whistle. Leandro Trossard gave his side the lead just five minutes into the game. Things went from bad to worse for the Blues as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah scored own goals to make it 3-0 at half-time.

Kai Havertz got one back immediately at the start of the second half, but Chelsea were simply outplayed and outclassed. Pascal Grob added salt to the wound by scoring his side’s fourth in injury time.

This was Potter’s first defeat in any competition since taking charge of the west London club in early September. Speaking after the game as quoted in BBC, the Englishman had his say:

“Yes of course the scoreline and the defeat is a painful one. We didn’t really recover. You can always look at goals and think you can do better. We have to take responsibility a bit in the first half. We have had a lot of football but that’s no excuse. We couldn’t quite get to that level. We had some opportunities to attack them too but unfortunately we missed the pass or didn’t execute, then the scoreline was a painful one. When you lose you can always do better.”

No one would have thought that the Blues would be so easily outplayed by their opponents. The Seagulls had lost two of their last three league games, and if anything Chelsea were favourites to win.

But the Sussex side simply outplayed the west London club in all areas and deserved their win. This was new coach Roberto De Zerbi’s first win and the club’s first win over a west London club since 1933.

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• Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah opens up on struggles under Tuchel amid Potter turnaround

Focus now turns towards the Champions League. The Blues have already qualified for the next round and Potter could rotate his side against Dinamo Zagreb this Wednesday. Next Sunday, the club will prepare to welcome rivals Arsenal for a London derby and fans will hope for a victory in both games.