We always knew this was going to be a tough task, and so it proved to be, but there were glimmers of hope amongst Chelsea’s domination. Will it be enough to build on as we face three more elite teams in a row?

The match began with the Blues probing around the Brighton box and they very nearly took the lead on 6 minutes when Fran Kirby sent an effort thundering off the bar. At that stage it was hard to envisage anything but a very, very, long afternoon for the visitors. Then on the 10 minute mark Pauline Bremer picked out Vicky Losada who linked up with Tatiana Pinto to play in Katie Robinson down the wing. She put an excellent ball across the face of goal where Bremer popped up to finish off the move she started with a tap in. Really excellent passing move from the Seagulls, exactly what Melissa Phillips will be looking for more of as the season continues.

Unfortunately what followed was a siege on the Brighton defence that medieval knights would have been proud of. It’s natural if you go up 1-0 away to the champions that you operate deeper in your own half, but we were too deep, too often and we just couldn’t get a foot on the ball to keep possession. Chelsea had chance after chance and if it weren’t for the heroics of Sophie Baggaley in goal, the Seagulls could have been 3 or 4 down at half time. In actuality, they very nearly made it to the break with their 1-0 lead intact, but having not dealt with a(nother) set piece properly, a second ball back into the box was nodded home from close range by Sjoeke Nusken who was left totally unmarked in the six-yard box. Honestly, it felt like an omen for the second half.

It didn’t take long. On 52 minutes a ball in behind Jorelyn Carabali set Sam Kerr away down the right hand side, and she squared it to Nusken who was, you guessed it – unmarked – on the edge of the box, to slot past Baggaley for Chelsea’s second. I shan’t go into detail on their next two goals sufficed to say that it was sloppy play all-round for both, the first a ball lost in the midfield followed by headless chicken time in the box, and the second a mistake by Maria Thorisdottir who was undoubtedly tiring, but shouldn’t be making such cheap errors. It was deserved though, Brighton did create one or two half chances, but if the opposition at this level are wasting a few – you need to score every single one of your own. Chelsea are Chelsea – that much we know.

I admired the fight the Albion showed though, they didn’t give up, and damn it – they tried. In some ways, up against a team like that – that’s all anyone can ask. It was certainly heartening to see Elisabeth Terland snatch a consolation goal in the 90th minute after some profligate defending by Chelsea on this occasion.

Overall I think there’s a lot Brighton can take away from this match. They carved through one of the best (if not the best) teams in the league to take the lead and held their own until just before half time. Ultimately the quality of Chelsea came through, but that’s ok, we were competitive and at times showed sparks of real quality. It makes me wonder if we’d have played like this against West Ham and Spurs whether we might’ve gotten something out of those games.

Notes

• Despite the scoreline, Baggaley was absolutely immense in goal. She arguably doesn’t have the presence of Evrard, but her shot stopping and anticipation is top notch. In my opinion, she should be the deserved number one going forward.
• The passing move to set up Bremer’s goal was fantastic, you couldn’t have drawn it up better. Her addition to the team has really brought some much needed quality and consistency to the forward line.
• The defence had their moments, both good and bad, reflected in the fact that Chelsea had 14 attempts on goal before Nusken equalised. So yes, no goals in that many shots – good, allowing 13 shots in the first place – bad, and in truth several of those efforts were heroically saved by Baggaley. On almost any other day, particularly against the Blues at home, that volume yields far more than the single goal before half time.
• I still can’t get behind this sort of three/five at the back tactic where I assume Li Mengwen and Emma Kullberg were playing as wing-backs who can press forward? The issue is, every time they do, we get massively exposed out wide, which means they drop deeper and we end up with five at the back – and still concede. Also, have we seen a wing-back contribute to a goal this season? If they don’t have licence to roam, and/or can’t get up and back quick enough, I don’t see their function if I’m honest.
• We desperately need some pace injected into the team, the tempo is too ponderous at times and players frequently have no ‘out ball’. Given my praise of Bremer I’d like her to lead the line as a striker or at least a centre forward alongside Terland – not out wide. Robbo is fantastic down the right, but without a real counterpart on the left, she is all too often nullified by the opposition at the moment.
• I’m rooting for Lee Guem-min, but at this stage I’m just not sure she should be starting games. Her record in the WSL for Brighton stands at 59 games, 48 starts, 8 goals and 3 assists. I get that she’s not a prolific finisher, but then what is it she’s in the team for? It’s certainly not for assists. Lee’s Opta stats have her providing on average one goal contribution (goal/assist) every fifth game.
• What a player Elisabeth Terland is, Albion look a different team when she’s on the pitch and I think she could easily score 15 goals in the WSL this season. The problem is going to be keeping her fit whilst she carries that expectation. She has already appeared heavily taped up in the last couple of games and didn’t start against Chelsea because of a lingering issue.
• The video for the game on the FA Player was ridiculous. It felt like the cameraman had downed several large ales just before and couldn’t decide which of the four horizons he was seeing was the right one (official reason – gammy tripod). Also the commentary, which is often done by local radio/sports presenters can be spotty in places. Veatriki Sarri was described as Estonian for example, and one of my favourite lines of the day was “We are half an hour in so it is…uh…roundabout…half an hour in.” It is a thankless task though and real improvement is down to the league to make certain equipment mandatory and bring in (or increase) pay for staff.