Premier League LIVE: Chelsea lose fifth league game in a row

'Focus on the process' - Hurzeler on Brighton's winning run

Brighton 3-0 Chelsea

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton's comprehensive 3-0 win over Chelsea made it six victories in their last eight Premier League matches.

They have now claimed 19 points from a possible 24, a run that has pushed the Seagulls up to sixth place in the table.

But while Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler is enjoying a "positive feeling", he told BBC's Match of the Day that moving into the European places was "not that important for us": "Definitely it's a positive feeling. We played a good football game. It is not just about the result but also what we brought on the pitch - the identity, we were in every phase. It was not just parts of the game that was good but the overall performance. I am proud of the boys.

"Everyone has the intention to start well, but in particular tonight, it felt it was crucial to really show we wanted to win this game.

"We wanted to bring the fans behind us and build a connection and an atmosphere. You always need to bring this intensity on the pitch for the crowd."

On moving into the top six: "It is not that important for us. It is keep focusing on the performance and keep focusing on what we can do right. We have high expectations on ourselves. I always say focus on the process because you will get the results you deserve if you focus on what you can control."

Fans have turned on Rosenior

Brighton 3-0 Chelsea

Nizaar Kinsella

BBC Sport Chelsea reporter

At his former club, where he also began his coaching career, Liam Rosenior was met with chants from his own supporters calling for him to leave for the first time

It marked radical new low point in a bleak run of five consecutive league defeats without a goal for Chelsea - their worst such sequence in more than a century and one that few supporters have witnessed in their lifetime.

Given the club's success over the past 25 years, it is perhaps understandable that patience is thin for a head coach appointed just three months ago from Chelsea's partner club, Strasbourg.

There were early signs that the night might not unfold as Rosenior had hoped. Cucurella's barber leaked news that Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro were unavailable through injury - information the head coach had intended to keep under wraps - before it quickly circulated on social media platform X in the mid-morning.

It was the third team-news leak Rosenior has faced this season and the latest in a series of issues that unfolded throughout the match.

Tactically, his decision to switch to a back five - only the second time Chelsea have done so this season - quickly proved ineffective, forcing a change back to his usual system at half-time.

Rosenior cut a lonely figure as Chelsea supporters turned their chants against him, while Brighton fans ironically voiced support for his continued leadership. Matters worsened when Chelsea conceded a late third goal.

This awful form that began in March has carried into April, leaving Chelsea's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League increasingly remote and even European qualification now in serious doubt.

'The most difficult night of my career'

Brighton 3-0 Chelsea

Chelsea

More from Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior, who was asked by Sky Sports whether their defeat by Brighton was their worst performance:

"By far. It was unacceptable in every aspect of the game, unacceptable in our attitude. I keep coming out and defending of the players. That's indefensible, that performance tonight. The manner of the goals we conceded, the amount of duels that we lost, the lack of intensity in the team. Something needs to change drastically right now.

On why the performance was so bad:

"We need to look in the mirror. I need to look in the mirror. But I can't keep coming out here and defending some of the things we're seeing. Manchester United, genuinely the result wasn't there, I felt we turned a corner. The general attitude, spirit, determination was lacking a part from maybe three or four of the eleven. That is nowhere near enough for this club. I can't come out and lie. I'll tell the truth. That was an unacceptable performance in every area."

On the difficult early stages of the game:

"The goal's terrible, we have an easy header, we miss the header. The passage before the goal upset me even more. I think there were four or five occasions where we can actually show some courage and quality, and take the ball down and actually play. We just kicked the ball back to Brighton. You can speak about a lack of confidence or results not going our way, that doesn't represent anything that I ever want to see. And I won't ever see it again."

On whether it represents a lack of professionalism:

"The professionalism wasn't there. It's a really difficult night. The most difficult night not even just here, so far, at this magnificent football club, but in my career. Some of the things I witnessed today, I never want to see again."

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