Yankuba Minteh helped Brighton & Hove Albion to a second triumph over Chelsea in a week, as they followed up their FA Cup win with a 3-0 victory in the Premier League on Friday.

Minteh, who had only scored three league goals ahead of this fixture, struck either side of half-time to lead his side back to winning ways in the top-flight. 

The Seagulls went ahead in the 27th minute when Kaoru Mitoma sensationally plucked Bart Verbruggen’s ball out of the sky before placing it beyond Filip Jorgensen’s grasp.

They edged further ahead 11 minutes later when Minteh finished from close range, before later grabbing his brace with another confident effort at the near post.

Brighton move up two places into eighth ahead of the rest of the weekend’s action. Chelsea, meanwhile, stay in the top four, though could drop out on Saturday.

How the match unfolded

A moment of individual brilliance handed Brighton the lead, with Mitoma exquisitely bringing down Verbruggen’s long punt forward before curling the ball into the bottom-right corner.

It made Verbruggen the fifth different goalkeeper to assist a Premier League goal this season (after Ederson, Mark Flekken, Jordan Pickford, and Bernd Leno); the most in a single campaign since five in 2010/11.

Enzo Fernandez thought he had pulled Chelsea level eight minutes later, but the midfielder saw his goal ruled out after he was judged to have pushed Joel Veltman before heading home.

Brighton doubled their advantage just before the break; Levi Colwill almost turned the ball into his own net, with the rebound falling to Danny Welbeck, who laid off for Minteh to finish.

The 20-year-old then grabbed his second in the 63rd minute, squeezing the ball in at the near post, with a potential foul from Welbeck on Colwill in the build-up waved away.

Brighton, not content with their three-goal lead, could have added a fourth, with Mitoma seeing his effort saved before Veltman’s strike was pushed onto the post by Jorgensen.

Sensational Seagulls respond in style

Despite beating Chelsea in the FA Cup in their last competitive match, Brighton were still licking their wounds from their humiliating 7-0 thrashing at Nottingham Forest.

However, their display against the Blues further proved their credentials for finishing in the European places this season.

Though taking their time to make their mark in the match, with their opponents dominating the ball early on, Brighton remained defensively astute but ruthless in attack, as was evident in Mitoma’s bolt from the blue to open the scoring.

Minteh then handed Brighton a two-goal cushion, and though they led at the break, the hosts would have been worried, having only won one of their last five Premier League matches when ahead at half-time.

Their advantage never looked likely to be clawed back by Chelsea though.

After edging further ahead through Minteh once again, Brighton should have increased their lead, with Mitoma squandering a golden opportunity when one-on-one, while substitute Joao Pedro could only fire over after being presented with the ball from Jorgensen’s poor clearance.

Brighton are now within touching distance of the European places and will be confident of moving further up the table with a trip to struggling Southampton on 22 February.

Blues struggle without Jackson

Chelsea’s inconsistent form of late continued on the south coast, with the absence of some of their most potent attackers pivotal in their display on Friday.

With the news that Nicolas Jackson would be sidelined for six weeks with a hamstring injury, Maresca chose to play Cole Palmer in a fluid forward role alongside Christopher Nkunku, with the England international firing the game's first effort wildly over the crossbar early on after Malo Gusto’s bursting run.

Chelsea’s injury woes worsened around the 20-minute mark when Noni Madueke pulled up following a break down their right, a change that saw Jadon Sancho introduced and Palmer moved back into midfield, yet the Blues’ talisman still proved ineffective.

After failing to register a shot on target, Chelsea trailed at half-time of a Premier League match by two goals for the first time under Maresca, who will have been urging his team to respond.

But that ultimately failed to transpire. The visitors’ only chance of note came with four minutes remaining, with substitute Tyrique George almost seeing his cross turned into his own net by Adam Webster.

The Blues travel to Aston Villa next Saturday and will be hoping to solve their issues in front of goal. 

Club reports

Brighton report | Chelsea report

Match officials

Referee: Chris Kavanagh. Assistants: Lee Betts, Mark Scholes. Fourth official: Stuart Attwell. VAR: Michael Oliver. Assistant VAR: Ian Hussin.