‘Absolute disaster’ Chelsea performance slammed by pundit as damaging Brighton stat revealed

Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy has criticised Enzo Maresca’s side after they were beaten 3-1 by Brighton & Hove Albion at home on Saturday, with the Seagulls amassing a remarkable record in 2025.

Chelsea had to operate without talisman Cole Palmer as he is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks while recovering from a groin injury. The Blues were looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League after their 2-1 defeat to Manchester United last weekend, but they instead suffered a third loss in four games across all competitions.

Chelsea took the lead in the 24th minute when a deflected Reece James cross fell to Enzo Fernandez, who headed home from close range.

Chelsea went into the break 1-0 up but had Trevoh Chalobah dismissed eight minutes into the second half when he brought down Diego Gomez following a mistake by Andrey Santos.

Brighton equalised in the 77th minute when Yankuba Minteh took on Malo Gusto down the left flank and crossed for Danny Welbeck, allowing the striker to head past Robert Sanchez.

Brighton took the lead in stoppage time when Mats Wieffer headed a Yasin Ayari cross into Maxim De Cuyper’s path, which saw the full-back finish.

Things went from bad to worse for Chelsea in the 100th minute as Welbeck chipped past Sanchez following great work by Minteh and Brajan Gruda.

Mistakes and ill-discipline keep costing Chelsea this season, with Sanchez having been sent off just five minutes into the defeat at Man Utd.

Incredibly, Brighton have now beaten Chelsea three times in 2025. They picked up two wins against Chelsea in February, including a 2-1 victory in the FA Cup and a 3-0 league win just six days later.

Cundy, who made 53 appearances for Chelsea as a player, was not happy with their latest setback. He said (via the Chelsea Chronicle): “This is a bad result. The whole second half has been an absolute disaster. This has been a terrible second half. I did not see this coming at half time.”

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Chelsea drop points again

There were some boos from Chelsea supporters at full time, with Maresca’s side having won just two out of six league games so far.

Chelsea sit in eighth place on eight points, seven behind leaders Liverpool.

Their aim is to get closer to title challengers Liverpool and Arsenal, but that is unlikely to happen if their errors and ill-discipline continue.

Chelsea have invested heavily in young players and this can sometimes be the price you pay for relying on inexperienced stars.

Brighton will be delighted with their record against Chelsea. They have lost a host of players and members of staff to Chelsea, including Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Joao Pedro and Sanchez, but they have repeatedly got the better of them this year.

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