Brighton & Hove Albion thrashed Chelsea 3-0 in their Premier League encounter on Tuesday, courtesy of goals from Ferdi Kadioglu, Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck, at the American Express Stadium in Falmer, England.
Brighton’s Kadioglu side-footed home from a corner that was flicked on to break the deadlock in the third minute.
After failing to register a shot on target in the opening 45 minutes, halftime substitute Alejandro Garnacho gave Chelsea’s attack a some life.
However, Chelsea’s resurgence ended almost as quickly as it began in the 56th minute, as Hinshelwood fired home a pass from Georginio Rutter to complete a counter-attack.
With Chelsea still struggling to create any goal-scoring opportunities, Welbeck came off the bench and added a late third to condemn the Blues to a fifth league defeat in a row without scoring.
The result sees Brighton climb above their visitors to sixth in the table on 50 points, two ahead of Chelsea, who have won one of their last nine league games.
“It’s nowhere near enough for this club, it’s nowhere near enough. I can’t come out and lie, I’ll tell the truth – that was an unacceptable performance in every area,” Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior said in an interview after the match.
“It’s a really, really difficult night, the most difficult night, not even so far here at this magnificent football club, (but) in my career, because some of the things I was witnessing today I never, ever want to see again.”
Chelsea take on Leeds United in an FA Cup semi-final on Sunday in a game that could make or break their season.