Chelsea v Brighton player ratings
Danny Welbeck’s stoppage-time equaliser earned Brighton a deserved point on a disappointing night for Chelsea. Here’s how we rated each Blues player in the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Edouard Mendy: 7
Would have been a hero had Chelsea won, having produced a number of saves when his team were under second-half pressure. Denied Adam Lallana, Alexis Mac Allister and Yves Bissouma but could do nothing about Welbeck’s late header.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 6
Was caused problems by Brighton’s lively attack. Hit the post in the first half.
Andreas Christensen: 6
Did well to complete the first half after picking up a back injury, but did not appear after the interval.
Antonio Rudiger: 8
Had a cracking game before Welbeck drifted between the German and Trevoh Chalobah to score. Produced a series of heroic challenges, including when he did brilliantly to deny Neal Maupay and Tariq Lamptey.
Christian Pulisic: 5
Gave the ball away several times. Other than that he was so anonymous it was sometimes easy to forget he was on the pitch.
Jorginho: 5
Struggled badly, especially during a second-half spell in which Brighton dominated with Bissouma excellent through the middle.
Mateo Kovacic: 5
Also poor. Gave the ball away cheaply on occasions, including when Rudiger came to the rescue to deny Lamptey in the first half after Kovacic had been robbed by Bissouma.
Reece James: 5
Playing as a makeshift left wing-back, James was caused problems by former Chelsea man Lamptey before being taken off midway through the first half with what looked like a nasty hamstring injury.
Mason Mount: 7
Worked hard defensively and in trying to support Romelu Lukaku in attack. Unlucky to have a late goal disallowed and delivered the corner from which Lukaku scored.
Callum Hudson-Odoi: 5
A chance to impress in his preferred attacking role, with Lukaku leading the attack. Hudson-Odoi didn’t take it. The low point of a disappointing display was when he squandered a great chance when he opted to tamely pass to Mount when he should have had a shot himself. Was taken off midway through the second half.
Romelu Lukaku: 8
Did brilliantly and looked amazingly sharp given his recent lay-off. Won plenty of headers against giant defender Dan Burn, held the ball up well and scored with a nice near-post header from Mount’s corner – although he fluffed his lines in an almost identical situation in the second half.
Marcos Alonso: 5
Really poor after being brought on for James, doing nothing to suggest Chelsea don’t need to make a signing to cover for the loss of Ben Chilwell. Kept giving the ball away, with one lapse leading to a chance for Bissouma, was given the runaround by Lamptey, and some of his deliveries were woeful
Trevoh Chalobah: 6
Deserves credit for his performances this season but needed to be better for Brighton’s goal – Welbeck might not have got the header had Christensen or Thiago Silva been on the pitch.
N’Golo Kante: 8
Brought on to stem the flow with Chelsea under sustained pressure in the second half. He did exactly that and the team looked much more solid as soon as he entered the fray. But they were undone in the final moments.
