Brighton & Hove Albion ruined Chelsea boss Frank Lampard’s return to Stamford Bridge with a 2-1 comeback win on Saturday as substitutes Danny Welbeck and Julio Enciso condemned the Blues to a third defeat in three games under their interim coach.
Lampard, who rested several first-choice starters before Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid, saw the Blues score the first goal of his second spell in charge when Conor Gallagher’s heavily deflected shot beat Robert Sanchez in the Brighton goal in the 13th minute.
But the visitors, under coach Roberto De Zerbi, were the better side for long spells of the match and drew level when Welbeck squeezed between two defenders to head in off the post in the 42nd minute.
The Seagulls got the second goal that they deserved when Enciso scored with an unstoppable shot from 25 yards in the 69th minute, bolstering Brighton’s hopes of European football for the first time in their history next season.
Brighton hammered Chelsea 4-1 in October, a result which set in train a slump in form for the London side that led to the dismissal this month of Graham Potter as coach, six months after the Blues had poached him from the south-coast side.
The result left Brighton seventh in the Premier League, five points ahead of Liverpool. Chelsea remain marooned in 11th position with their only hope of any silverware this season dependent on their ability to turn around a 2-0 deficit against reigning European champions Real Madrid at home on Tuesday.
Everton outplayed
Harry Wilson scored his first Premier League goal of the season as Fulham snapped a five-game losing run and piled the misery on relegation-threatened Everton with a 3-1 victory at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Harrison Reed and Dan James also netted for the visitors as Everton battled to contain the Londoner’s precise passing and movement. Dwight McNeil scored what proved to be a consolation for the hosts.
Fulham lie 10th in the table with 42 points from 30 games, while Everton remain just outside the relegation zone with 27 points from 31 matches and only above 18th-placed Nottingham Forest on goal difference.
It was a deserved victory for Fulham, only their second in 28 visits to Goodison Park, as they dominated large parts of the game and had Everton chasing shadows amid the bright sunshine on Merseyside.
Reed gave Fulham the lead midway through the first half when he picked up the loose ball after Wilson’s curling shot hit the post and fired past home goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Everton had a good spell just before halftime and were level at the break when McNeil skipped away from Reed’s challenge and drilled a shot low from the edge of the box into the bottom corner of the net.
Wilson put Fulham back in front early in the second half as the ball fell to him in the box and he picked his spot against a static Everton defence.
The points were sealed with a little over 20 minutes remaining when neither James Tarkowski nor Michael Keane dealt with a long free kick and James calmly finished, sending many in the ground heading for an early exit.
