Well knock me down with a feather. I think most fans were hopeful that Brighton could take their positive performance against Chelsea away into this return fixture, but to go toe-to-toe with them and be unfortunate not to take all three points? Not sure too many would have made that bet. In truth, the Blues’ equaliser was offside and there was a genuine shout for an Albion penalty that was waved away, so I’m counting it as a moral victory, even if it doesn’t count as an actual one.

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For a full recap of the action we invite you to head over to the Albion website HERE courtesy of Charlie Hanson. Match highlights are available via the official WSL YouTube channel HERE.

The SheGulls Summary

Brighton & Hove Albion

• Overall I think this was the best Brighton have looked this season, they came out with a purpose and Chelsea just couldn’t get into any rhythm in the first half. Perhaps understandably at 2-1 up coming out for the second, Dario Vidosic acknowledged in his post match press conference, the team started a ‘little bit sluggish’ and the result of that is probably the equaliser (which we’ll come to later). The fight was there though and at either 1-0 down or at 2-2 the opportunity to capitulate reared its ugly head, but the team worked hard to keep their shape, execute their game plan and press for opportunities.
• It’s tough to single out players from an incredible team performance, but I’ll try. Official Player of the Match went to Madison Haley and boy oh boy did she earn it. Often used as an out ball by the team, she scrapped and fought the entire game and she was EVERYWHERE. Chelsea resorted eventually to just shoving, pushing, or kicking her and still she would come up with possession. Some players will always need a run of games to show their true form, and with Madison I think we’ve got an incredible talent on our hands.
• As I say everyone played well, but the other candidate for PotM for me would have been Melina Loeck. Firmly entrenched as the number one keeper now, she pulled off several excellent saves and couldn’t be faulted for either goal. In particular her growing command of her area and willingness to come and claim balls into the box or in dangerous situations is really valuable.
• I’ve spoken for many weeks now about how a return to three central defenders could be the key to unlocking our attack – as counterintuitive as that may seem. With Poppy Pattinson tucked in alongside Guro Bergsvand and Maria Thorisdottir for the most part, it allowed Marisa Olislagers licence to get forward on occasion. The first goal comes from her run in behind the Chelsea defence, a well-placed pass from Nikita Parris, and a cool slotted finish at the near post.
• In many ways things couldn’t have been drawn up to better make my point, as the second goal comes from Rachel McLauchlan being able to bomb forward and cross the ball in from the touchline, which was cleverly dummied by Haley, and finessed home by Vicky Losada from the edge of the six yard box.
• So let’s talk about the Chelsea goals. Their first comes from a cross which loops up into the air off the side of Sjoeke Nusken’s head and falls nicely to Sandy Baltimore who hits an absolute rifle of a volley into the top right corner. My only minor criticism is that there were plenty of defenders that could or should have stopped the cross at source, but once the ball was in the box and went uncleared, it was just unfortunate it fell to a Chelsea player and she hit it about as sweetly as you could ever catch a football. Their second goal was offside. I don’t need to go into more detail than that. It shouldn’t have counted and the officials got the decision wrong. Whether the game would have had a different outcome had that goal been correctly ruled out, we can only speculate – but it wouldn’t have hurt the Albion’s chances of taking all three points let’s agree on that.
• There was at least one penalty shout for both teams. Chelsea’s strongest case was rendered moot because offside was called anyway. Brighton had a case for two from one single corner, although the push from Mayra Ramirez on Maria at the back post was the most egregious. We’ll talk refereeing in a bit, but suffice to say, it was never going to be given.
• Fran Kirby had a big impact on her return to the starting eleven. Not only did she lead the forward line well and drive the press, particularly in the first half, but she also really should have scored after going through one-on-one with Hannah Hampton. Nobody expects more from Fran than Fran, but she just emanates quality and raises the team around her. I have no doubt Fran in fine form and back playing regularly slots that away. She did unfortunately have to go off injured after 76 minutes, so hopefully just some fatigue rather than anything more sinister.
• Vicky and Marisa were also forced off, but even though Vicky reappeared in a boot, that was apparently more precautionary than anything. Marisa just felt the damage from a Chelsea foul late on and seemed to be okay following the final whistle.
• The officiating only makes it into this section if it is particularly impactful on the game – and in this case – it qualifies. We’ve spoken about the offside equaliser, we’ve told you that a clear penalty shout went either unseen or was just plain ignored, but that wasn’t the full extent of it. The referee, Kirsty Dowle, fell for every little minor stumble, slight push, or tiny wobble when it came to Chelsea, but we couldn’t buy a decision for the most part, despite the fact we were getting kicked right, left and centre. She also caught our attention for the wrong reasons when she barked aggressively at Nikita Parris for failing to move away from a quickly taken throw in. Yes Nikita should have been retreating, but such was the ferocity of the order, and without a warning first, that it drew an angry reaction from the fans. Respect has to work both ways.
• Overall a fantastic point, which arguably should have been three. Would it have been? We’ll never know. Brighton can take clear and valuable lessons from the two excellent performances against the league leaders, they just need to apply them when it comes to facing other opposition. If they are able to, I still think fifth is a realistic goal, even with the teams queuing up behind us to get there first.

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Chelsea

• Despite having more of the ball, more passes, more shots etc, the game felt pretty evenly matched – as it did at Kingsmeadow. Chelsea found it hard to build any momentum in the first half, but when they needed that bit of quality, they found it with Baltimore’s volley.
• I’m not sure whether bringing Naomi Girma in to start was the right thing to do and Sonia Bompastor might be regretting that decision in hindsight. Chelsea didn’t look as impenetrable in defence as they often do, and Girma herself went off injured in her debut. Don’t misunderstand me, she is an incredible talent and will I’m sure be a smash hit in West London, but it will take her time to settle in, and maybe this wasn’t the game to disrupt a unit with only one goal conceded in the WSL this calendar year.
• When a top team isn’t playing well they often rely on their star players to dig them out of a hole. Lauren James had our defence on toast for the cross that led to their first goal and she slotted the second goal away with aplomb even though she should have been flagged offside. I wouldn’t say James had her best game by any stretch, but a couple of flashes of her undoubted ability and a massive stroke of luck was enough to keep Chelsea undefeated in the league this season.

Other Business

• Still waiting on the official attendance figures because I couldn’t quite hear it on the tannoy, but it was certainly well over 4000. More than likely it will be double the amount we usually draw at the Broadfield. Doubtless many Chelsea fans contributed to that number, I know a lot of us had them sat around/near us – much to our annoyance – but even so it was fantastic to see the stadium so full.
• It was fantastic to see so many of you prior to kickoff in the Fanzone. We gave out lots of free stuff and chatted to many of you about our aims as an organisation and supporters club. What was pleasing in particular was how there felt like some real synergy between the club staff, people volunteering from SheGulls and the Fan Advisory Board, the band, and some of our more recognisable and prominent fans. It felt like we were working as one organism all with the same goal of building the fanbase and strengthening our ever expanding foundations. You love to see it and it’s an honour to be a part of. Thank you!
• Part of our appearance in the Fanzone was aimed towards raising money for our two charities on International Women’s Day – March 8th. All the details about our IWD 2025 campaign can be found here: https://shegulls.com/2025/03/01/international-womens-day-2025/
  If you have any difficulties depositing money via either method listed, do let us know and we’ll work out a way for your donation to reach us.

For more in-depth analysis of this game (well we try) please do check out the SheGulls Podcast, recorded Monday night, released Tuesday/Wednesday – where we’ll also have a preview of the upcoming fixture away at Spurs.

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