Chelsea 0-0 Brighton: Danny Welbeck, Adam Lallana miss late chances to give Seagulls Stamford Bridge win
Danny Welbeck hit the post and Adam Lallana missed a glorious chance late on to deny Brighton a famous victory at Stamford Bridge in a 0-0 draw with Chelsea.
Thomas Tuchel’s side never got going in a game delayed by 15 minutes due to protests outside Stamford Bridge against the European Super League stopping both teams
from reaching the ground, and managed only three shots on target all night against a stoic Brighton backline.
Instead, the visitors should have snatched victory late on but passed up a couple of gilt-edged chances, the first coming after Kurt Zouma was caught in possession by Neal Maupay, who found Lallana – only for the substitute to miss the far post when clean through.
Seconds later, Chelsea were again caught on the ball as Jorginho was robbed, allowing Welbeck to strike from 20 yards, but the width of the woodwork denied him a superb late winner, before Ben White was sent off for a second yellow in added time.
The point moves Chelsea back into the top four, ahead of West Ham on goal difference, while Brighton are seven points clear of the bottom three, having played a game less than 18th-placed Fulham.
On-pitch matters fail to match pre-match drama
On a night of high drama around Stamford Bridge, matters on the pitch had a lot to live up to in order to match the news Chelsea were planning to withdraw from the European Super League following protests by hundreds of fans outside the stadium.
It may have felt a little after the lord mayor’s show, and it certainly looked like it. Tuchel predicted his side would be „a little distracted“ by the evening’s events and it took them 17 minutes to register their first shot, when Christian Pulisic turned Ben White well before skewing well wide.
A half of few chances, thanks to some committed Brighton defending and a real lack of tempo in Chelsea’s play, could have turned out differently had White’s poor touch in his own box been turned home by Hakim Ziyech, who instead fired straight at Robert Sanchez.
At the other end, Yves Bissouma’s goalbound strike was diverted just over his own bar by Jorginho, with Chelsea given a reminder they could not switch off in their own half despite enjoying the majority of the play.
Little changed for the Champions League semi-finalists after half-time, with Chelsea managing only two shots in the entire 45 minutes, and instead considering themselves lucky Brighton had left their shooting boots on the south coast.
With time running out, Zouma’s decision to turn into danger nearly proved fatal as Neal Maupay robbed him before feeding Lallana, who missed the target altogether when clean through.
Moments later Welbeck went closer still after Jorginho was caught in possession, but fired against the crossbar from distance with Arrizabalaga beaten.
Giroud, Chelsea’s saviour more than once this season, could have enhanced that reputation in the dying minutes when meeting Callum Hudson-Odoi’s low ball, but swept wide at the near post when under pressure.
What the managers said…
Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel: „They have a lot of individual quality and a unique style. They defend very strongly, that created a lot of problems for us and we could not find the answer. We were not precise enough on the counter attack or after ball losses, and didn’t create too many moments in counter-pressing.“
Brighton boss Graham Potter: „Of course, we hit the post, but you play against a top opponent, you have to say that, but our players were amazing. They sacrificed for each other, we’re happy with the clean sheet, the point, and move forward.“
Man of the match – Ben White
Despite his late red card, White was the pick of an impressive bunch at the back for Brighton, who were barely troubled by Chelsea throughout.
Only the Blues and Manchester City have kept more clean sheets since the turn of the year than the Seagulls, and White’s performance at Stamford Bridge highlighted exactly why, helping to keep Robert Sanchez’s night quiet enough to make only one save of note all game.
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.