The England star forced an own goal early but the Blues were swiftly pegged back as Brighton came from behind to progress in the FA Cup
With Brighton having lost 7-0 to Nottingham Forest last weekend, Chelsea may have expected to fill their boots when they took the lead within five minutes through Cole Palmer in this FA Cup fourth round clash, but it wasn’t to be as Enzo Maresca’s side suffered a 2-1 defeat.
A corner was worked to Sancho on the edge of the box, and he flighted a ball into Palmer in the left channel. His attempted cross was horribly fumbled by Bart Verbruggen into the net, and the goal was marked as an own goal.
But just six minutes later, Brighton were level. A fine ball in from Joel Veltman found Georginio Rutter and his powerful header found the bottom corner.
In the second half, Chelsea struggled for rhythm and fell behind as Tosin Adarabioyo and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall failed to clear and Kauro Mitoma pounced to lift the ball over Robert Sanchez and complete a remarkable turnaround.
Maresca rang the changes thereafter but the Blues were unable to restore control and have subsequently been knocked out of the FA Cup. The Seagulls, however, soar on.
