Chelsea were punished for their sluggish start to 2020 as Brighton’s Alireza Jahanbakhsh scored a spectacular late bicycle-kick to claim a point on New Year’s Day.
The visitors were ahead early on through captain Cesar Azpilicueta but failed to make their early dominance count, failing to find a way through Graham Potter’s well drilled Seagulls side, leaving manager Frank Lampard a frustrated figure throughout as the door was left open for their hosts.
Chelsea had rather struggled for goals before their two late strikes at Arsenal, and here still didn’t look quite as free flowing as they have shown they can be so far this season.
It took a touch of fortune to get them off the mark here, Kurt Zouma’s header from a corner falling to Tammy Abraham, whose shot had a little too much on it for Mathew Ryan to gather, the keeper palming to Azpilicueta for the Chelsea captain to tap in his first Premier League goal of the season.
That should have set Chelsea up to press on and open up a little, but they simply couldn’t get it going.
Both Lampard in the technical area and Jorginho on the pitch called on Zouma and Antonio Rudiger to pick the pace up with their passing but the visitors were sluggish, struggling to break down a Brighton side who were themselves offering little but defending well.
There was a sign of life when, just before the break, Christian Pulisic – back in the side having been rested at Arsenal as a precaution – worked himself some space in the area with smart footwork and flashed an effort across Ryan’s goal, sending it just wide of the far post.
Lampard and assistant Jody Morris sighed and shook their heads at some of Chelsea’s pedestrian play after the break and called for Callum Hudson-Odoi to spice things up.
The teenager lifted the visitors immediately, cutting inside and seeing an effort blocked before spinning quickly and whipping a wonderful through ball in for Willian on the break. Chelsea were pushing higher but still didn’t look comfortable at the back, Zouma shown a yellow card for bringing Brighton sub Aaron Connolly down on the break before Kepa misjudged his punch from the resulting free-kick.
Having fluffed his lines from one set piece, the Spaniard was on hand at the next after Connolly managed to hold off those around him to turn and shoot, Kepa dived low to the right and palmed the effort clear.
Brighton, though, were finally starting to make the most of Chelsea’s sluggish defending, pressing hard for a late leveller.
Potter had sent on Jahanbakhsh, who closed out 2019 by ending his 18-month wait for a first Brighton goal against Bournemouth, a goal which has seemingly transformed the Irainian overnight.
As Brighton captain Lewis Dunk headed back across the Chelsea penalty area the striker flung himself into the air and unleashed a stunning overhead kick into the far corner which, this time, Kepa could do nothing about.
He did, however, manage to get a foot to Neal Maupay’s rasping strike as the clock ticked down in order to preserve a point.
Having seen two trips away from home as salvation over the new year run Chelsea must now return to Stamford Bridge – where they’ve lost three of their last four – for an FA Cup tie with Nottingham Forest before Burnley visit in the League.
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