Out of the chaos of his first season at Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino can see the prospect of a Europa League campaign taking shape.
Only small reward by recent standards at Stamford Bridge but some satisfaction for Pochettino, whose team moved into sixth on a day when co-owner Todd Boehly could be heard espousing the value of patience.
‘Anything really good takes a little bit of time,’ said Boehly before victory at Brighton through goals by Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku.
Chelsea are five unbeaten since a 5-0 mauling at Arsenal, winning the last four and need only a point from Sunday’s game at home against Bournemouth to qualify for the Europa League. Win again and they could leapfrog Tottenham and finish fifth.
It was not all plain sailing, however, with Reece James sent off 20 minutes after coming on, kicking out in retaliation at Joao Pedro after a foul, which will see him miss the start of next season through suspension.
Chelsea jumped up to sixth in the Premier League table with a victory away at Brighton
Christopher Nkunku scored his first goal since January and his third since joining Chelsea
Mauricio Pochettino’s side are finishing strongly and look likely to play in next year’s Europa League
Palmer produced a stunning header to put Chelsea into the lead in the first half
Danny Welbeck added anxiety with a goal in the seventh minute of added time but Pochettino’s team left with three points.
‘It’s for other people to analyse our job and I have one year more contract here and that’s it,’ said Pochettino. ‘The problem is we only analyse the result, not the performances and not the circumstances.’
Palmer struck first with his 25th goal of the season soon after Lewis Dunk had returned to the pitch after receiving treatment and Brighton’s defence were out of shape as Marc Cucurella crossed from the left.
The Blues earlier thought they had a penalty for a foul on Marc Cucurella before a VAR overturn
Mykhailo Mudryk went down with an injury and was forced off in the first-half of the game
Chelsea goalkeeper Petrovic jumps for the ball as Brighton looked to find an equaliser
Nkunku celebrates with his Chelsea team-mates after doubling their lead after 64 minutes
Unmarked, Palmer moved forward effortlessly onto the ball and glanced it beyond Bart Verbruggen with a header fading away from the goalkeeper.
The visitors deserved their lead. They carried the great goal threat through the first half, forcing early saves from Verbruggen and they thought they had a penalty when Cucurella tumbled under a tackle by Facundo Bounanotte.
Michael Salisbury pointed to the spot but replays showed Buonanotte won the ball so VAR Peter Bankes intervened and the penalty was overturned.
Salisbury then ruled out a Chelsea goal just before half-time. Nicolas Jackson climbed above Tariq Lamptey and found the net with header but was harshly penalised for a push.
Brighton’s best effort of the first half came in the ninth minute of stoppage time when Joao Pedro crashed a header against the bar from a cross by Lamptey.
Bart Verbruggen was perhaps lucky only to see yellow after fouling Nicolas Jackson
Referee Michael Salisbury was ordered to check the monitor for a foul by Reece James
VAR officials felt that the Chelsea full-back kicked out at Brighton star Joao Pedro (pictured)
James as a result was sent off, giving Brighton a very small chance of a late comeback
Chelsea lost Mykailo Mudryk, dazed after a collision, and Dunk did not return for the second half, his knee problem another concern for England.
‘He’s no OK but I hope for him it’s not a big problem,’ said Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi. ‘I don’t know if he will be available for Sunday but more importantly for him to be available for Europe. He will have a scan.’
Brighton improved and thought they deserved a penalty for a foul on Simon Adingra, but the officials were not interested. Nkunku stretched the lead with his first goal since January, turning in a low cross from Malo Gusto.
Verbruggen escaped a red card despite cutting down Jackson outside the box before a late flurry of activity with James sent off and Adringra hit a post before Welbeck’s goal made for a frantic closing sequence.
