Mitoma & Minteh Shine in Brighton’s Win

Kaoru Mitoma must bore Enzo Maresca. A week after he knocked them out of the FA Cup, the Japan winger’s stunning control to score the opening goal gave Brighton another memorable win and put pressure on the Chelsea manager.

Cole Palmer struggled as a false 9 again and had to be made to greet the travelling fans who stayed at the end. It was their third loss in four matches. Maresca seemed perplexed on the touchline as his team struggled to respond after Yankuba Minteh made it 2-0 before halftime.

Minteh’s second goal ended any comeback hopes, almost causing a Valentine’s Day bloodbath if Mitoma, João Pedro, or Joël Veltman had taken late chances. After his worst loss since taking over in the summer and Fabian Hürzeler’s team closing in on his expensively formed squad, the Chelsea boss will be wondering where his next win will come from.

Maresca

Maresca, whose team had no shots on goal, felt his team needed more determination. “We are upset and sorry for the fans. You cannot perform this well with 14 games left. The supporters are right to be frustrated because we are giving up too many chances and not producing enough. We must unite now.”

Maresca dismissed criticism from some fans this week by claiming that their FA Cup departure allowed them to focus on the Premier League and that qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 2022 will return the club to where they “belong”. This suggests they will be lucky to return to the Conference League next season. “Probably since I arrived, that is [our] worst performance,” Chelsea manager told Sky Sports.

The home crowd had one less former player to boo when Filip Jörgensen replaced Robert Sánchez in goal. After Moisés Caicedo or Marc Cucurella touched the ball last week, they continued.