Welbeck scores twice as Brighton beat 10-man Chelsea

Danny Welbeck came off the bench to score twice as Brighton & Hove Albion came from behind to beat 10-man Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Enzo Fernandez’s 24th-minute header had given Chelsea the lead, only for Trevoh Chalobah’s red card eight minutes into the second half for the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity, turning the game on its head.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side made their numerical advantage count when Welbeck met Yankuba Minteh’s cross with a thumping header in the 77th minute before Maxim De Cuyper, also a second-half substitute, put the Seagulls in front in the second minute of stoppage time.

Welbeck sealed the win seven minutes later, picking out the roof of the net to seal an impressive away victory for Brighton.

The result moves Brighton into the top half of the Premier League table on eight points, while Chelsea drop down to seventh in the early-season standings.

How the match unfolded

After a strong start, Chelsea eventually made their pressure tell when Reece James’ deflected cross found Fernandez at the back post, with the midfielder able to nod home from close range.

However, the script was flipped when Chelsea found themselves down to 10 men for the second Premier League match in a row when Chalobah tripped Diego Gomez as he tried to get in on goal, though referee Simon Hooper initially waved away Brighton’s protests.

But he was sent to the VAR monitor, and he overturned his original decision after Chalobah had denied a goal-scoring opportunity.

Brighton would use the extra player to their advantage, with Minteh doing well to beat Malo Gusto before drilling a powerful cross onto the head of Welbeck, who finished past Robert Sanchez.

Brighton completed the turnaround in the second of 11 additional minutes in the second half, with Mats Wieffer sending the ball back across goal for De Cuyper to head home.

Watch De Cuyper's goal

Welbeck sealed the triumph eight minutes later with a brilliant shot from inside the box.

Defensive errors cost Chelsea again

Last weekend, Chelsea were dealt their first defeat of the Premier League season, losing 2-1 to Manchester United after an early red card for Sanchez, which forced Enzo Maresca into three first-half changes.

With Chalobah’s dismissal, the same story played out, with Maresca once again making defensive changes, bringing on Gusto, Josh Acheampong and Benoit Badiashile in the second half.

After their draw to Brentford, where they conceded in injury time, Chelsea could not see out the result once again, as they switched off from a corner, which led to De Cuyper’s winner. They also allowed Welbeck to go through on goal to finish the game off as their legs grew tired.

The Blues were also let down by the contributions of Joao Pedro up front, who failed to have a shot during the game, being forced to sit back more after the red card.

The loss means that Maresca’s side are without a win in their last three Premier League games and head into a tough week in which they face Benfica in the UEFA Champions League before welcoming Premier League champions Liverpool to Stamford Bridge.

Brighton make the man advantage count

The Seagulls came into the game off the back of a 6-0 win against League One side Barnsley in the EFL Cup, showing their talent at the top end of the pitch.

In the early stages at Stamford Bridge, Hurzeler’s side failed to recapture that performance, not recording a shot on target until Welbeck’s equaliser in the 77th minute.

With the red card, they were able to increase their pressure on Chelsea and work their way into the box. Minteh created problems out wide, setting up the equaliser, and he was unlucky not to receive a penalty after a high challenge on him by Gusto went unpunished.

Brighton’s determination to find a winner eventually paid off, and they were back to their normal goalscoring form in stoppage time, scoring twice to shut off Chelsea’s chances of getting anything from the game.

Watch Welbeck's late goals

Defensively, Brighton were also able to show their quality, keeping out Chelsea in the early stages. Jan Paul van Hecke produced an important block to keep out Estevao Willian, and Bart Verbruggen made several important saves.

They will look to continue their form next weekend, when they travel to Molineux to take on the bottom-of-the-league side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Club reports

Chelsea report | Brighton report

What the managers said

Enzo Maresca: "Red cards today and against United. The message we just said inside [the dressing room] is clear: against any team in the Premier League, you can't continue to give away presents."

Fabian Hurzeler: "I think in the first minutes we suffered then we conceded the goal and started playing football. We created chances, we were better out of possession. After we conceded the goal we played okay."

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Key facts

Chelsea’s Fernandez has been directly involved in 18 non-penalty goals (8 goals, 10 assists) in all competitions in 2025, the most of any central midfielder for Premier League clubs.

Welbeck has been directly involved in seven goals (5 goals, 2 assists) in eight Premier League games against Chelsea for Brighton, more than against any other side in the competition for the Seagulls.

Chelsea have been shown a red card in consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since December 2023, with the second game back then also coming against Brighton.

Fernandez has scored three goals against Brighton in the Premier League more than he’s netted against other side in the competition.