Brighton comfortably defeat struggling Chelsea to rise to sixth and prolong Blues slump

Chelseas disappointing run lately has resulted in four straight Premier League defeats without netting once. Yet in several of those fixtures, they at least showed fight, unlike the opening period against an eager Brighton team.

The Seagulls needed under two minutes to challenge Robert Sanchez, with the keeper tipping Kaoru Mitomas near effort over the bar, and they took the lead from the follow up corner.

Jorrel Hatos poor clearance accidentally nudged the ball towards Ferdi Kadioglu, whose effort bounced off Wesley Fofana and found the net.

With momentum behind them, Brighton dominated possession and created numerous openings. Jan Paul van Hecke drew a fine save from Sanchez soon after, followed by Georginio Rutter bending wide.

Only Jack Hinshelwood can explain missing a chance to make it two midway through the period, as a wayward pass from Sanchez let Yankuba Minteh cross for the midfielder, only for Trevoh Chalobah to block on the line.

As the break neared, Chelsea showed faint improvement, but still no effort on goal, which did nothing to calm the frustrated away fans voicing their anger.

The away side finally attempted a shot in the 47th minute, as Romeo Lavia shot high.

Soon after, their recovery became tougher when Brighton countered from a Chelsea move and scored via Hinshelwood, who made up for his earlier miss.

Mitoma nearly added to the tally next, striking a volley wide from a set piece as Brighton sought to widen the gap against Liam Rosenior and his squad.

Kadioglu had two shots at a second goal, but Sanchez denied him on both occasions.

Ultimately, this was an easy victory for Brighton, enhancing their prospects of European football next season, and they polished the result when replacement Danny Welbeck nodded in during added time.

They earned high praise, having triumphed in six of their last eight Premier League outings, though questions will return to Chelsea. They have now dropped five league games consecutively for the first time since 1993, and gone without a goal in that many for 114 years.

Next Sunday offers a break via an FA Cup semi final versus Leeds United at Wembley, but if Rosenior who faced abusive chants later on remains at the helm is uncertain.