Chelsea earned respite from their difficult start to the season under Mauricio Pochettino as Nicolas Jackson’s second-half goal gave them a 1-0 win against Brighton in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Roberto De Zerbi’s high-flying visitors dominated possession for much of the game but home fans witnessed their side put on an effective counter-attacking display at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea had gone three games without scoring, but that run ended when Jackson struck early in the second half after being set up by Cole Palmer, planting a composed finish into the corner to ease his personal struggles in front of goal.
Pochettino made five changes from the side beaten by Aston Villa on Sunday, with Palmer brought in for his first start.
The former Manchester City forward began in an advanced three alongside Mykhailo Mudryk and Ian Maatsen, but was at his most effective when dropping to receive the ball deep, seeking out the critical final-third passes that have eluded Chelsea and meant they have scored just five league goals in six games.
Jackson had an early sight of goal, winning the ball on the edge of Brighton’s box and hitting a left-footed drive that deflected over.
Robert Sanchez was one of three former Brighton players in the Chelsea line-up and twice in the first period the goalkeeper almost gifted his former side the lead, first passing the ball straight to the feet of Joao Pedro who chipped it inches over the bar, then putting Moises Caicedo under pressure in a central position. He was dispossessed by Carlo Baleba, who rolled the ball to Ansu Fati to fire wide from the best opening of the half.
Brighton had enjoyed 66 per cent possession by the half-hour mark, leaving Chelsea to look for openings on the break.
The lively Mudryk ran in behind from Caicedo’s defence-splitting pass, only for Tariq Lamptey to slide in with an expertly timed intervention.
Minutes later, Mudryk turned provider, latching on to Levi Colwill’s forceful tackle that sent the ball spinning upfield and crossing low to the near post for Palmer to side-foot wide under pressure from Igor Julio.
Chelsea had endured their worst start to a season in 45 years but relief looked finally to have arrived five minutes after half-time.
Maatsen received the ball centrally and laid it into the feet of Palmer, who had been a lurking first-half threat playing between the lines. He tucked it in cleverly to Jackson, who wrong-footed Bart Verbruggen to guide home his second goal for the club.
It was just the third time this season that Pochettino had seen his team take the lead, and they should have gone further in front when Mudryk’s energetic midfield pressing won the ball and set Jackson away, but this time the goalkeeper got the best of their duel after spreading himself well.
Home fans thought Jackson had scored the second goal his performance deserved when he slotted home from Palmer’s pass, but the offside flag cut short celebrations.
Brighton had late chances to level, first when Pervis Estupinan collected a raking ball and ran it to the byline, but no one had gambled as his cross fizzed across goal.
Pedro then thumped a volley over the bar from Axel Disasi’s weak headed clearance but Chelsea held on to finally hand Pochettino room to breathe.
Bournemouth 3-0 Brighton: Unal stars as Cherries continue upward surge
Enes Unal played a crucial role on his full Premier League debut as Bournemouth saw off Brighton 3-0 at the Vitality Stadium.
Having teed up Marcos Senesi’s early opener – the defender’s fourth goal of the season – Unal sent a bullet header into the top-left corner after the break to double Bournemouth’s advantage in Sunday’s south coast derby.
The introduction of Julio Enciso from the bench in the second half saw Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton enjoy more spark in the final third, but the result was put beyond all doubt when Justin Kluivert slammed home late on.
Tenth-placed Bournemouth are now four points clear of Brighton and with Chelsea above them, with their hopes of European football still intact.
The Cherries started brightly, with Unal bursting down the right-hand side before looking to find fellow centre-forward Dominic Solanke, but a goal-saving challenge from Lewis Dunk prevented a certain opener.
Bournemouth kept up the pressure and opened the scoring after just 13 minutes as Senesi pounced in the box from a corner to nod home from just a few yards out after Unal had won the flick-on at the near post.
Brighton grew into it after going behind and had an excellent chance to find an equaliser as Facundo Buonanotte danced through the challenges of the opposition defence inside the box, only to fail to beat Mark Travers.
Andoni Iraola’s side should have made it two after Alex Scott dispossessed Igor Julio before pulling it back to Unal, but the Turkish striker dragged his effort wide from just inside the penalty area.
Just a few minutes after the break, the Cherries could have doubled their lead as Kluivert burst into the box with Antoine Semenyo waiting unmarked at the back post, but the Dutch forward opted to shoot from a tight angle and could only find the side netting.
Their second did arrive in the 52nd minute – Unal marking his first league start in style when he powered in a header after meeting Dango Ouattara’s floated cross to the back post.
Enciso twice went close as Brighton searched for a way back into the contest, striking off target from the edge of the box before sending a stunning attempt just wide.
Kluivert added further gloss to Bournemouth’s victory, however, driving in from the right and lashing in with his left foot to wrap up a comprehensive triumph.
Iraola’s European hopes firmly alive
The Cherries have now extended their unbeaten run at home to six games in the Premier League, with the Vitality Stadium becoming a bit of a fortress in recent months.
Bournemouth, who have now achieved their record points tally in the Premier League (48), are in with an outside chance of qualifying for Europe, with Andoni Iraola’s men moving back into the top half of table, just six points behind Manchester United in sixth.
Unal’s goal and assist might give Iraola something to think about in terms of team selection, too, as the Bournemouth boss looks to finish his maiden season in the competition on a high note, though a late injury for Semenyo, who had to be taken off on a stretcher, will perhaps dampen the mood somewhat.
De Zerbi’s debutants fail to deliver
De Zerbi handed full Premier League debuts to Mark O’Mahony and Odeluga Offiah, making seven changes overall as the Seagulls looked to bounce back from their heavy defeat to Manchester City last time out.
However, those alterations did not have the desired impact, and it is now just two wins from their last 16 Premier League games for the Seagulls, with De Zerbi’s side only beating Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United on the road this season.
Brighton have secured just two points from a possible 21 available in their previous seven fixtures, and a second season in Europe is surely beyond them now.
Kane gunning for Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record
Harry Kane has his eyes set on Robert Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record after scoring twice in Bayern Munich's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, though he knows he needs "to get a move on".
Kane scored in both halves on Saturday to take his tally to 42 goals this season across all competitions, also reaching the 400-goal mark at senior level for clubs and country.
The striker scored 280 of those goals for Tottenham, holding the honour of being the club's all-time leading scorer, while he is also the most prolific player in England history with 62 goals for the Three Lions.
With 35 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season, Kane now has his eyes set on another piece of history.
Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign, netting 41 times in 2020-21.
Asked about the possibility of breaking that record with just three games remaining in Bayern's league campaign, Kane said: "It's possible, but obviously I have to get a move on!
"I've got to maybe score a few goals next week. It's there, it's in touching distance.
"It depends on the last few games of course, but it was nice to add to it today and score a couple of goals to help the team."
Bayern next host Real Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, before travelling to face Stuttgart on Saturday.
Pochettino says VAR 'damaging' English football as Chelsea denied Villa win
Mauricio Pochettino claimed VAR is "damaging" English football after Chelsea saw a potential winning goal chalked off at the end of their 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa.
Despite a bright performance, Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down at half-time on Saturday with Marc Cucurella putting through his own net before Morgan Rogers added Villa's second.
Goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher dragged Chelsea level as they penned Villa back after the break, but the Blues were enraged in stoppage time when Axel Disasi saw a potential winner ruled out.
Disasi headed home in the fifth minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations among the visiting Chelsea fans, only for referee Craig Pawson to disallow the goal following a pitchside VAR review, ruling Benoit Badiashile pushed Diego Carlos in the build-up.
With that incident coming just one week after Chelsea were denied a penalty in their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City despite Jack Grealish appearing to handle Cole Palmer's free-kick, Pochettino has had enough.
"Everyone that was watching the game will feel disappointed. The referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal after going to the VAR to confirm," he told TNT Sports.
"The referee is unbelievable and it's ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things. In the semi-final it was handball and it was no penalty, the referee didn't check it.
"It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn't understand why the goal was disallowed.
"They said it was a foul and if you see the challenge… if we go into every single challenge like this and it is going to be a foul, we wouldn't finish the game with 11 players.
"We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game."
Pochettino had no complaints about Chelsea's performance, though, as they avoided defeat for just the fourth time in 51 Premier League games when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.
The Blues previously achieved that feat in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, a memorable 2-2 draw with Tottenham in 2016 and another 3-3 draw with West Brom in 2020.
Chelsea racked up 21 shots to Villa's nine and put up 1.57 expected goals (xG) to the hosts' 1.1, with Nicolas Jackson and Palmer spurning glorious chances in either half.
"The performance was very good," Pochettino said. "We played really well and it is true in the first half we conceded too easily.
"To play Villa, who are fighting for the top four, I am pleased with the team. Now, we have to move on and the headlines will be about the disallowed goal."
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