Even though Chelsea suffered a crushing loss away to Brighton on Friday night, Jason Cundy did single out one player as a rare bright spark on a miserable evening.
Chelsea suffered their second defeat at the Amex Stadium in the space of six days.
The Blues were knocked out of the FA Cup last Saturday by Brighton. Now, Enzo Maresca’s side have just been beaten 3-0 away to the Seagulls in the Premier League meeting. Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring for the hosts on Friday before a brace from Yankuba Minteh by the 63rd minute.
Chelsea had the chance to consolidation fourth position in the league table, but they could now fall as low as sixth depending on the weekend’s result.
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler mentioned the tension against Chelsea pre-match because of the recent rivalry between the clubs. However, it became such an easy fixture for them against a side that rolled over and appeared to accept defeat.
Jason Cundy names only Chelsea positive in Brighton defeat
Jason Cundy thought Chelsea’s Tyrique George, 19, was at least one shining light on a dreadful evening for the club.
The teenage winger entered the action for the final 25 minutes, making just his second ever appearance in the Premier League. In fairness, he showed a few glimpses of quality from the right wing on a night where the Blues were toothless going forward.
When discussing Chelsea youngster George, Cundy said via Chelsea’s official app (9:45pm, 14 February): “Fair play to the boy. It’s a difficult game to come in to off the bench. You’re 3-0 down, go on then try and make a difference. Even though the scoreline isn’t going to change, he has.”
Romeo Lavia is excited about the potential of Chelsea talent George, who’s an academy graduate bumped up into the first-team squad this season.
Based on how the club’s current wingers are performing, you could make a strong case to say he should be rewarded with more minutes in the upcoming matches.
Tyrique George was lively
Chelsea’s defeat at Brighton is one everyone will want to forget in a hurry, but perhaps George’s eye-catching cameo can be something positive to come from it.
Noni Madueke started on the right wing and was forced off early with injury. Afterwards, we saw Pedro Neto try and fail to do anything significant up against Brighton left-back Tariq Lamptey. Eventually, Blues prospect George did actually ask some questions of him late on.
| Minutes played | Total shots | Successful dribbles | Touches in opposition box | Accurate passes | Accurate crosses | Match rating |
| 25 | 1 | 2/2 (100%) | 2 | 9/10 (90%) | 0/2 (0%) | 6.6 |
It’s quite obvious that the Blues need to do something different because things have gone a bit flat with the team right now.
