Premier League Recap: Graham Potter’s homecoming didn’t go as planned
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BRIGHTON & HOVE — Earlier this season, Graham Potter left Brighton & Hove Albion for Chelsea in the wake of the sacking of Thomas Tuchel. This past Saturday, he played against his old club for the first time. It’s fair to say it’s a game he’ll want to quickly forget, as the Blues were beaten 4-1 by Brighton.
After Potter left for London, former Italian player Roberto De Zerbi stepped in to fill the role of manager for the Seagulls. Since his appointment, they hadn’t won any games. They managed a 3-3 draw against Liverpool, but losses to Spurs, Brentford, and Manchester City prevented them from moving up the table.
Once, they were sitting in the top four but had fallen to ninth before the match. De Zerbi had a decent team, though, with Robert Sanchez in goal, a defense with Gross, Webster, and Lewis Dunk, a midfield that boasts former Liverpool Englishman Adam Lallana, and of course, Belgian international Trossard in attack. So he would be sure to utilize them.
While they had been flying high in the Champions League, Chelsea has been having a difficult time in the domestic league. Draws against Brentford and Manchester United meant that Potter needed a win for his team to get back into a comfortable position in the top four.
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De Zerbi fielded a strong XI through a 4-2-3-1 formation. Sanchez started in goal with Gross and Estupinan in the full-back positions. Lewis Dunk and Webster were the main men in defense, with MacCallister and Caicedo in the midfield’s defensive half, Adam Lallana in the CAM role, Mitoma and March on the wings, and Trossard, the main man in attack.
Potter opted for a more interesting formation, playing a 3-4-2-1. Kepa kept his spot in goal after doing well for the Blues since the injury of Edouard Mendy. The back three consisted of Cucurella, Thiago Silva, and Chalobah, who usually plays in midfield. Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic played deeper roles as wingbacks. Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek played a deeper role in midfield, with Mason Mount and Conner Gallagher playing higher up, and Kai Havertz was the lone striker on the day.
Brighton got off on the front foot, getting in the Chelsea half within two minutes. A poor pass from Thiago Silva ended up in the hands of Caicedo, who sent it back to the attack, where Trossard managed a lofted shot toward the goal, but Thiago Silva was able to mend his mistake and clear the attempt off the goal line with Kepa caught out. He would repeat his heroics a minute later as a shot from Estupinan came flying in. Chelsea’s luck wouldn’t continue, though.
Chelsea got stuck in their own half due to immense pressure from Brighton. A poor pass from Silva put the ball back in Trossard’s feet, who passed it to Mitoma. The Japanese international dribbled the ball and dragged the defense, giving Trossard the needed space as Mitoma played a pass to the Belgian, who shifted the ball past Kepa and placed his shot in the bottom right corner. The goal was the first time that Brighton led Chelsea in a Premier League match!
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Chelsea nearly equalized just four minutes later. Kovacic played a neat pass through to Pulisic, but the American winger played a heavy touch that Sanchez came out to collect.
Things went south for the Blues in the 14th minute. A Brighton corner found the foot of Loftus-Cheek, who accidentally put the ball past his own keeper, doubling the Seagulls’ lead.
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Chelsea would get several chances to get a goal back, with Gallagher getting a few decent chances and Sterling, Pulisic, and Havertz making their efforts known, but not one shot got past Sanchez. It would be Brighton who finished the half in style.
The Seagulls would begin a nice attack on the left flank, allowing Estupinan to get inside. However, an initial pass meant for Mitoma was intercepted by Chalobah, who put it inside his own goal, making it 3-0 to Brighton.
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Potter knew there needed to be a change, so he decided to use one of his subs to bring on Senegalese keeper Mendy in place of Kepa, who had been looking off-beat all afternoon. Chelsea would get themselves on the scoresheet shortly after, with Havertz heading home a clean lofted pass from Gallagher.
The game opened up after the Havertz goal, with both sides finding several chances to add goals, but only Brighton would get one more through Pascal Gross in the dying moments, making the final score 4-1.
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It’s fair to say that not many expected to see Brighton tear Chelsea apart in the manner that they did. They made easy work of a weak defense and capitalized on their many chances, which included 19 shots, with nine of them being on target. Chelsea, on the other hand, was completely off-beat.
The first half was where the game ended, with their opponents going 3-0 up within 45 minutes, which is not a good look for a team that won the Champions League less than three years ago.