The Top Flight
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Chelsea: Four Key Matches That Defined Their Season

By Keith Lisenbee

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 21: Jorginho of Chelsea celebrates with Cesar Azpilicueta , Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham of Chelsea after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC at Stamford Bridge on January 21, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 21: Jorginho of Chelsea celebrates with Cesar Azpilicueta , Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham of Chelsea after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC at Stamford Bridge on January 21, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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3. September 28, 2019, Brighton at Chelsea

Going into this match at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea had won two, drew two, and lost two already, placing them in 11th place in the Premier League table, three points from the Champions League spots.

Most concerning for Frank Lampard was the fact the Blues had conceded the third-most goals in the league. Only Norwich City and Watford had let more balls into their net than the Blues. Brighton came into the Bridge sitting in 15th place only a couple of points from the purgatory that was the drop zone for relegation.

Lampard decided on a 4-3-3 match up rather than the 3-4-3 that he used against Wolves, but this formation had started to prove ineffective in keeping opponents from converting goal opportunities.

As was the case in Wolverhampton, Chelsea utilized their pace and technical skill to force mistakes on Brighton defenders, leading to better scoring opportunities. Tammy Abraham continued to feature as the go-to striker as he had chances in the fifth and 13th minutes to score, which he was unable to convert.

Ross Barkley hit the post in 35th minute, and Marcos Alonso also missed another goal opportunity a few minutes later. The Blues were dictating the flow of the match with their pace forcing the away side into errors, leading to free kicks and bookings.

In the 48th minute, Brighton’s Adam Webster had a poor touch on the ball under pressure in the box, leaving it open to Mason Mount picking it off for a scoring opportunity. Webster brought him down for an easy penalty call and yellow card. Jorginho converted the penalty to take the lead.

Chelsea finished off their opponents in the 75th minute as Willian got an unfortunate deflection off a defender’s foot for the second goal. Most importantly, the Blues were solid on the defensive end, allowing an xG of 0.62 and only one shot on goal, a long-range drive that had an xG of .02.

However, another concern was apparent in the match. Chelsea had billions of chances at the Brighton goal ending up with an xG of 4.26, however, they converted just one goal from open play. A pattern had begun to develop.

The victory sparked a brilliant run of form by Chelsea.

After the Brighton match, the Blues went on a six-match winning streak in all competitions. Chelsea also ran off an additional five wins in the Premier League catapulting them into third place and eight points clear of fifth, a stable Champions League qualifying position.

Then things got sketchy.

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