Brighton bounced back from the huge loss to Nottingham Forest in style as they came from behind to defeat Chelsea in an all Premier League FA Cup fourth round clash.
The Blues took a fortunate lead early in the match when Cole Palmer’s volleyed cross from the left was fumbled into his own net by Bart Verbruggen.
Brighton responded impressively after conceding, with Georginio Rutter connecting with a superb cross from Joel Veltman to equalise just seven minutes later.
They remained the superior team for most of the match and were rewarded at the 57th minute mark, with Kaoru Mitoma skillfully flicking the ball over Robert Sanchez to complete Brighton’s comeback.
Chelsea felt the goal should have been disallowed, as the ball struck Tariq Lamptey’s arm in the build-up, though there are no video assistant referees in the FA Cup fourth round.
Enzo Maresca’s had fielded a strong side but rarely looked like equalising, with Enzo Fernandez shooting over the bar, and have now gone five away games without victory bowed out of the FA CUP.
The clubs meet again at Brighton’s Amex Stadium on Friday (20:00 GMT) in the Premier League, where Chelsea are nine points and six places above their cup match conquerors.
