Brighton’s late surge stuns 10-man Chelsea as Welbeck strikes twice at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea’s afternoon unravelled in the blink of a VAR check and the breathlessness of 11 added minutes, as Brighton overturned a first-half deficit to win 3-1 in west London. Enzo Fernández headed the hosts in front after an excellent first-half display, but Trevoh Chalobah’s dismissal early in the second half swung the match irrevocably. Brighton’s substitutes seized the moment, Danny Welbeck levelling on 77 minutes before Maxim De Cuyper and Welbeck again struck in stoppage time.

The turnaround felt as much about composure as it did about numbers. Chelsea, reduced to 10 for the second successive league Saturday, retreated and struggled to stem Brighton’s growing threat, with Yankuba Minteh constantly stretching the game. The Seagulls climbed into the top half, up to 10th, while a smattering of boos greeted the final whistle as Chelsea slipped to their first Premier League home defeat in 12 games and dropped to seventh.

From control to a costly red: how the game turned

Chelsea were as slick as they have been in weeks before the break. With Moisés Caicedo releasing Reece James on the right, the captain’s cross—glancing off Kaoru Mitoma—was headed firmly home by Fernández for a deserved lead. It capped what Sky Sports’ Paul Merson called an ‘outstanding’ first-half from the Blues, who were without the injured Cole Palmer but still dictated tempo and territory.

Momentum shifted when James briefly went off for treatment after jarring his knee and, moments later, Andrey Santos inadvertently poked the ball into danger. Diego Gomez burst through, tangled with Chalobah just outside the area, and referee Simon Hooper initially waved play on. After a VAR review at the monitor, the challenge was deemed a clear foul denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity and the red card followed. A week on from Robert Sánchez’s early dismissal at Manchester United, Chelsea were down to 10 again.

Minteh’s menace and the bench that bit

The numerical advantage encouraged Brighton to push higher, and Fabian Hürzeler’s changes were bold. Welbeck arrived to lead the line, and Minteh—already giving Marc Cucurella headaches—was shifted to isolate Chelsea’s right, where Malo Gusto had been introduced to bolster the flank. With the hosts no longer posing a counter-threat, Brighton recycled possession and kept the pressure on.

The equaliser arrived on 77 minutes and owed everything to Minteh’s directness. Dancing past his marker, he whipped a cross to the far post, where Welbeck rose to power a header beyond Sánchez. It rewarded Brighton’s growing authority and underlined how the visitors’ bench, including De Cuyper and midfielder Mats Wieffer, shifted the momentum.

Stoppage-time drama and a flashpoint ignored

Before the decisive blows, Brighton were incensed when Gusto’s high boot caught Minteh as the winger stooped to head inside the box. Hooper and VAR were unmoved, a decision former referee Mike Dean felt should have been given on the field. Tempers briefly frayed in the aftermath as both sides confronted each other.

Brighton kept their heads. In the second minute of added time, a deep delivery was headed back across goal by Wieffer and De Cuyper nodded in his first for the club. With Chelsea short of attacking outlets after earlier defensive substitutions, the visitors closed the net and, nine minutes into stoppage time, Welbeck skipped through to clip a composed finish past Sánchez to seal a dramatic win.

Context, consequences and the road ahead

Chelsea’s recurring themes—costly errors and cards—are beginning to define their autumn. There has been just one win in five in all competitions, an unconvincing Carabao Cup victory at League One Lincoln, and points slipped through poor marking at Brentford and cheap concessions in Europe. Compounding that, head coach Enzo Maresca is navigating a selection crunch: Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo and Levi Colwill are out until after the international break, Chalobah is now suspended, and star attacker Palmer remains sidelined.

‘In the Premier League you cannot give away presents,’ Maresca said. ‘We need to learn quickly.’ Hürzeler praised his side’s response—‘after the goal we played with more courage’—and urged realism about tight margins. For Brighton, who have repeatedly unearthed talent even after selling heavily to Chelsea, this was a statement comeback and a third straight away win at Stamford Bridge. For Chelsea, Liverpool’s visit now looms as a demanding test of resilience and discipline.