Brighton 1-2 Chelsea: Blues tighten grip on European place, Palmer on target

Cole Palmer's brilliant season with Chelsea continued as his goal helped the Blues boost their European qualification hopes with a win at Brighton in the Premier League.

Palmer netted his 22nd league strike of the season, meeting Marc Cucurella's cross with a looping header into the far corner in the 34th minute.

And the visitors added a second 14 minutes after the restart when Christopher Nkunku coolly dispatched Malo Gusto's cutback.

Having been so dominant Chelsea gifted Brighton a way back into the game when substitute Reece James - playing just his second match in 2024 after coming back from a long-term injury - was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Joao Pedro.

In the 97th-minute Danny Welbeck netted to halve the deficit, tapping in a Pedro cross, but the visitors held on.

Chelsea moved up to sixth in the table and currently sit in a Europa League spot.

They will guarantee a place in Europe next season if they claim a point at home to Bournemouth on the final day.

Brighton fell to a seventh defeat in ninth matches but remain in 10th place.

Line-ups

Brighton XI: Webster, Gross, Dunk, Igor, Gilmour, Tariq Lamptey, Julio Enciso, João Pedro, Bart Verbruggen, Simon Adingra, Facundo Buonanotte

Subs: Lallana, Steele, Welbeck, Jakub Moder, Fati, Odel Offiah, Valentín Barco, Noel Atom, Carlos Baleba

Chelsea XI: Marc Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah, Conor Gallagher, Djordje Petrovic, Benoît Badiashile, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Moisés Caicedo, Malo Gusto, Nicolas Jackson

Subs: Thiago Silva, Sterling, Marcus Bettinelli, Nkunku, Chilwell, Reece James, Levi Colwill, L. Ugochukwu, Cesare Casadei