Brighton’s Stamford Bridge superiority a further sign of the direction they are heading in

On Wednesday night, Brighton and Hove Albion travelled to the home of the reigning European champions and registered seven more shots on goal than their hosts as well as accumulating a higher expected goals total than Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.

The point that they more than merited was only secured in the second minute of injury-time when substitute Danny Welbeck rose to head home a perfectly-weighted Marc Cucurella cross, but pretending the late goal was evidence of a Seagulls smash-and-grab would be doing a disservice to the 91 minutes that went beforehand.

Despite being without captain Lewis Dunk as well as their best player so far this season in Leandro Trossard due to injury, and with Adam Webster on the substitutes’ bench after only recently returning from a knock himself, an inventively patched up side delivered what we should probably start describing as a quintessential Graham Potter-inspired performance against one of the Premier League’s leading lights.

Brighton have already come from behind to secure creditable draws away at title contenders Liverpool and Champions League-chasing West Ham in this campaign, and they were unfortunate to only come away with a point after an impressive performance against Arsenal in a fixture that came in the middle of a 10-game unbeaten run for the Gunners.

Whilst there were quite rightly creeping concerns towards the end of a 12-match run without a win, only brought to an end thanks to a Boxing Day victory against Brentford, Brighton have found a way to consistently bother the ‘big six’ under the tutelage of Potter.

Welbeck’s late goal was the first the Seagulls have scored at Stamford Bridge in their competitive history, and it secured just a second ever league point at the ground. The first of those points came in April of this year, showing that finding a way to stifle the West London club was by no means a one-off for Brighton’s impressive young head coach.

A first win at Anfield since 1983 was earned only two months before that goal-less draw against Chelsea in the Spring, and Brighton have also defeated Arsenal and Tottenham twice apiece, as well Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City as they cruised to the title last season, since Potter took the reigns two-and-a-half years ago.

Despite Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel’s suggestion that Brighton had been fortunate to come away with anything on Wednesday evening, their impressive collection of points against the Premier League’s strongest outfits is not any sort of fluke.

Potter’s capacity to alter and adapt his team to best combat wealthier and more well-stocked opponents is a far better explanation than any that relies on luck.

For the trip to South London in midweek, he switched the back four that had secured a first league win since mid-September against Brentford for the tried-and-tested back three that has been the head coach’s favoured defensive set-up so far this season.

This change saw Cucurella drop into the backline with Tariq Lamptey pushed forward into a wing-back role to help best utilise his ability to maraud down the right flank. Yves Bissouma returned from suspension to partner Adam Lallana in the middle of the park, and with Trossard absent, Alexis Mac Allister and Jakob Moder were tasked with supporting Neal Maupay in attack.

As is so often the case when Brighton’s head coach decides to make changes, almost all of the alterations paid off handsomely.

Brighton controlled possession for long spells thanks to Bissouma’s ability to win the ball back and Lallana’s capacity to keep a hold of it. Cucurella adapted seamlessly to his new role, and despite some nervous early moments, Dan Burn did not play as though he has been the team’s fifth-choice centre-back this season.

Although it took until the 37th minute for the away side to have their first shot on target, Mac Allister and Moder’s influence on the game gradually began to grow, helping Maupay to become more and more involved.

There were some difficult moments. The home side struck the post following a scramble at an early corner before taking the lead from a similar situation after Maupay failed to get to grips with Romelu Lukaku, and despite the domination Brighton had in the second half, chances to equalise dried up once Tuchel introduced N’golo Kante as a 67th-minute substitute.

Welbeck’s well-directed header almost came from nowhere even though it arrived at the end of a flowing passing move, but Brighton’s third draw in their last five games against Chelsea was more than deserved.

They are now unbeaten in their last two games against both Liverpool and Chelsea, and whilst two matches may initially seem like no great feat, even against such impressive opponents, no other current Premier League team can claim to have the same record – not even City.

“Throughout the game we asked some questions of Chelsea.

“They’ve got some top players but I thought we more than matched them and we put a lot into it.

“We fought all the way until the end and you could tell by the crowd they weren’t so comfortable.”

– Brighton Head Coach Graham Potter 

The way Potter’s side play can make them susceptible to taking a beating if their tactical plan goes slightly awry, but the financial landscape of the English top flight means losing heavily to a Champions League regular is always possible regardless of your style of play or footballing philosophy.

The success of teams in Brighton’s position should not be based on results alone. Potter was supposedly the man Tottenham should have appointed, and on course to be the next England manager, when the wins were rolling in back in August and September, but was deemed an overrated head coach in charge of a ‘boring’ team during the darkest days of the winless run.

In taking points from Arsenal, Liverpool, and now Chelsea this season, his side have played exceptionally well, implementing their brand of possession-heavy football against some of the best sides in European football, scoring some wonderful goals in the process.

Whilst the draw at Stamford Bridge is an undeniably impressive result, it is the performance that is worth remembering. With 20 games still to play this season, it would be no surprise to see this Seagulls side produce more of the same.

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