Chelsea‘s miserable run of form continued at the Amex Stadium as their Champions League aspirations were dealt another blow with a 3-0 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Blues made the trip to the south coast having seen their winless run in the Premier League extended to four, each of those defeats coming without them scoring a goal.
And that dismal streak was stretched to five as Brighton leapfrogged them into sixth in the table with a richly deserved victory.
Ferdi Kadioglu opened the scoring in the third minute and, despite failing to take further advantage of their first-half dominance, the Seagulls completed a double over Chelsea as Jack Hinshelwood doubled their advantage in the 56th minute.
Chelsea never looked like mounting a comeback and Danny Welbeck added late gloss to the scoreline as he capped a superb night for Brighton in style as they moved two points clear of the Blues.
Liam Rosenior’s beleaguered side remain seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool in the race for the top-five place that would guarantee qualification for Champions League.
Liverpool can stretch that gap to 10 by beating Crystal Palace on Saturday, meaning that Chelsea will likely be left hoping Aston Villa can win the Europa League and turn sixth place into a Champions League spot. After a performance in which they did not manage a shot on target and with Brighton in this kind of form, even a top-six finish looks fanciful for Chelsea right now.
