One winner and four losers as Chelsea lose 2-1 to Brighton, including attacker with zero shots in 90 minutes

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Chelsea are out of this season’s FA Cup tournament after last night’s extremely poor defeat away to Brighton.

The Blues were eliminated by Premier League opposition Brighton on Saturday evening in the fourth round of the FA Cup, losing 2-1 at the Amex Stadium.

Chelsea went ahead via Bart Verbruggen’s own goal early on. However, hosts Brighton deservedly progressed to the next round after goals from Georginio Rutter and Kaoru Mitoma.

Chelsea fans thought Moises Caicedo was their only positive performer as the team exited the domestic cup in such poor fashion. Next, it’s another trip to Brighton for the Blues next Friday when they face them again in the league.

• READ MORE: Enzo Maresca confirms why Chelsea captain Reece James was missing from the squad in FA Cup defeat to Brighton

Winners

In reality, there are not many positives from the really poor showing at Brighton. If we’re pushed to think of one possible winner from the result, it’s one player who didn’t kick a ball on Saturday…

Nicolas Jackson

Even though Blues striker Nicolas Jackson does receive necessary criticism at times, it was clear against Brighton just how much the attack missed his presence leading the line.

The 23-year-old’s struggling right now with his own form, but even when he’s not scoring, he can still provide a handful for the opposition with his general play.

Jackson’s injury isn’t a serious one after picking up a problem earlier in the week against West Ham, but he was missing from the matchday squad for the FA Cup. Hopefully, he’s back fit and available as soon as possible to play again as the No.9.

Losers

In contrast, there are so many individuals in Chelsea colours that played well within themselves in the Brighton defeat. Here is a look at a few of the biggest losers from a Blues perspective this weekend…

Jadon Sancho

Jadon Sancho, 24, was one of numerous Chelsea players to put in a pretty ineffective display versus Brighton.

While there were glimpses of quality from the attacker, he was substituted off during the second half after a quiet performance.

The most frustrating thing right now with the Englishman is that the left wing spot is completely wide open for him to cement for himself, but he’s not influencing football matches enough when he’s on the pitch.

Chelsea retain faith that Sancho can become a ‘superstar’, but he’ll need to find a level of consistency that doesn’t exist at the moment.

Pedro Neto

In a similar way to Sancho, Chelsea right-winger Pedro Neto huffed and puffed against Brighton without any significant end product.

It was a major chance for Neto to send out a message after replacing teammate Noni Madueke in the starting XI. Instead, he let himself down with his final pass and general decision-making.

Eventually, he lost the individual battle with Seagulls full-back Tariq Lamptey, so he can’t really moan if he drops back down to the bench next week.

Christopher Nkunku

The responsibility fell on Christopher Nkunku to lead the line against Brighton. Even though the attacker’s best position isn’t as a centre-forward, it was still a massive chance for someone who’s struggled for minutes this campaign.

Unfortunately, the 27-year-old had very little joy as the starting striker in the FA Cup defeat.

From his individual statistics against Brighton, the real standout one is that he attempted zero shots in 90 minutes of action. While Jackson’s finishing has a big question mark against it, you can usually at least count on him to be in the thick of the goalmouth action.

It’s another night where Nkunku failed to showcase his talent as he risks falling even further down the pecking order.

Enzo Maresca

Finally, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca comes out of the FA Cup exit in a very negative light.

The fact that the Blues exited both the FA Cup and League Cup this season at the fourth round stage is extremely poor. As a result, the club’s only chance of winning silverware this campaign is the European run in the Conference League.

When results were up and down earlier in the season, Chelsea fans were encouraged that displays were mostly positive. The difference now is that poor results are coinciding with really poor performances on the eye, too.

Maresca is believed to be ‘very happy’ with the Chelsea squad at his disposal this season, but we’d argue he’s been let down by the ownership in one or two crucial positions.