Chelsea coach Graham Potter didn’t get the kind of reception and the kind of result he wanted on his return to Amex Stadium where Brighton handed his team a 4-1 defeat.
Brighton were 3-0 ahead in the first half with the opening goal coming from Leandro Trossard and then two own goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah complicated Chelsea’s nightmare.
Kai Havertz gave Chelsea something to build upon early in the second half . But Pascal Gross struck in injury time to complete a deserved victory for Brighton.
‘The scoreline and the defeat is a painful one,’ said Potter.
‘We didn’t really recover. Once the crowd was so engaged it was a difficult one for us. The scoreline was painful. Brighton played a good game, especially in the first half.
‘You can always look at goals and think you can do better. We have to take responsibility a bit in the first half.
“We had some opportunities to attack them too but unfortunately we missed the pass or didn’t execute, then the scoreline was a painful one. When you lose you can always do better.’
Throughout the game Potter and Marc Cucurella, who joined Chelsea from Brighton were subjected to boos by Brighton fans.
Potter said: ‘I have nothing to say sorry for, I’ve nothing to apologise for.
‘I did a good job, you can see the team’s a good team. Took over when they were fourth from bottom in the Premier League, third probably worst team.
‘There’s a lot of money being raised in terms of player sales and there’s a lot of good players on the pitch.
‘I hope for their sake the next manager does as good a job and that’s as brilliant for them.’
