Danny Welbeck's late header dents Chelsea's title hopes

WEL AND GOOD: Danny Welbeck heads home Brighton’s equaliser against Chelsea in Wednesday night’s match at Stamford Bridge. Picture: PA

Chelsea 1 Brighton 1

The Blues blew it again, as Chelsea’s chances of catching Manchester City at the top of the table took another hit when Danny Welbeck scored a late — and well-deserved equaliser for Brighton at Stamford Bridge.

It was the fourth time in the past five home league games that Chelsea have drawn, dropping a total of eight from a possible 15 points in the process.

Romelu Lukaku had put them ahead with a controversial goal in the 28th minute, appearing to catch his marker Neal Maupay with an elbow to the face before heading home Mason Mount’s corner, but from that point onwards Brighton were the better team and had almost twice as many attempts on goal as their hosts.

It was another costly night at Stamford Bridge, especially with City continuing their winning run with victory over Brentford just three miles down the road in west London.

Yet it had started well for Chelsea.

Lukaku was making his first start for more than two months and made an immediate impact, hustling chances for himself and his team-mates.

The size and power of the Belgian centre-forward gives Chelsea an attacking focal point they have been missing, and he was involved in most of their early attacks as the home side set the tone and tempo of the game.

He made an early chance for Christian Pulisic, but the American was tackled by Marc Cucurella, excellent in Brighton’s backline. So too was Tariq Lamptey, the former Chelsea trainee who was striking in both attack and defence.

How Chelsea could do with him now, as Thomas Tuchel runs out of options at full-back. Following the news that Ben Chilwell will be out for the rest of the season, Reece James limped off in the 27th minute with a hamstring injury. The bad news did not end there, as Andreas Christensen failed to reappear for the second half after requiring treatment before the break.

With Thiago Silva also missing, Chelsea’s defence looked vulnerable, and they got little protection from central midfield, where Yves Bissouma had the measure of a tired-looking Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic.

And although Robert Sanchez made two good saves to deny Mount and Lukaku in the early stages before the Belgian scored, Edouard Mendy was by far the busier keeper from that point on.

In a busy spell before half-time, Mendy saved from Bissouma and Alexis MacAllister, either side of a brilliant stop to tip away a snapshot from Adam Lallana.

The pattern continued after the break as Brighton’s quick-passing interplay opened up Chelsea’s defence repeatedly. MacAllister flicked the ball over the bar and then had a long shot punched away by Mendy, who tipped over a thunderous volley from Bissouma. Maupay shot wide in the 56th minute before failing to put the ball home after MacAllister went round Mendy and cut it back for the Frenchman.

Tuchel called for the cavalry in the shape of N’Golo Kante, who replaced the ineffective Callum Hudson-Odoi, and the Frenchman’s introduction steadied the ship, although Chelsea were still guilty of making life hard for themselves with unforced errors. A rash of yellow cards for the men in Blue was evidence of their desperation at times, and Mount and Bissouma were both booked for squaring up on the touchline.

Graham Potter sent on Welbeck and Steven Alzate in a bid to get something from the game, and it was the former Arsenal and Manchester United striker who won them a well-deserved point.

Stoppage time had just began when the ball was shuttled across the edge of Chelsea’s penalty area. When it reached Cucurella, his inch-perfect cross met the head of Welbeck, who got above Antonio Rudiger and Trevoh Chalobah to direct the ball into the far corner of Mendy’s goal.

The noisy travelling supporters, who had outsung the home fans for most of the game, were in raptures and celebrated loudly again minutes later when the final whistle was blown.

The result means Chelsea move above Liverpool into second place, but are only one point instead of three ahead of the Reds, who visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

CHELSEA (3-4-3): Mendy 8; Azpilicueta 6, Christensen 6 (Chalobah 46), Rudiger 6; Pulisic 5, Kovacic 5, Jorginho 6, James 6 (Alonso 27); Mount 7, Lukaku 7, Hudson-Odoi 6 (Kante 67).

BRIGHTON (3-4-3): Sanchez 7; Veltman 7, Burn 7, Cucurella 8; Lamptey 8 (Mwepu 66), Bissouma 9, Lallana 7 Alzate 87), March 7; Moder 6, Maupay 5, McAllister 6 (Welbeck 79).

Referee: Mike Dean 6/10