The Blues were deservedly down 3-0 at the half after a series of mistakes, and the jubilant Brighton fans were chanting “You’re getting sacked in the morning” at Potter.
Brighton put pressure on Chelsea right away and took the lead after five minutes. Leandro Trossard was in close proximity when Thiago Silva’s poor pass, which wasn’t the first he had made in the game, bounced off of him.
It fell into Kaoru Mitoma, a rookie in the Premier League, who drove into the vicinity and drove past Chelsea shirts before coming across Trossard.
For his fifth goal under Roberto De Zerbi, the Brighton forward then lifted the ball over the approaching Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Chelsea continued to be the architects of their own demise nine minutes later, when Brighton scored its second goal. A rooted Ruben Loftus-Cheek turned a fine effort from Solly March during a flurry of corners into his own goal.
The third goal for Brighton was also an own goal.
Pervis Estupinan was expertly found by Moises Caicedo down the left side of the area, and his cross into the six-yard box was converted by Trevoh Chalobah with his outstretched foot (42), leaving Potter in the opposing dugout appalled.
Conor Gallagher’s gorgeous, sweeping cross was nodded in by Kai Havertz early in the second half to give Chelsea the goal they needed to tie the game (48).
Despite Chelsea dominating the second half, Brighton added a late fourth goal as Pascal Gross reached the club’s milestone of 50 goal contributions. After forcing two saves from Edouard Mendy, a second-half substitute, Julio Enciso was able to score (90+2) and cap off a successful afternoon for the Seagulls.
As a result of the victory, De Zerbi managed the Seagulls for the first time, and Brighton defeated Chelsea for the first time ever in league play.
With 18 points, Brighton moves up to seventh place.
Potter continued to hear the chants “you’re getting fired in the morning,” and the home crowd booed him both before and after the game.
Chelsea are in sixth place.
Not a homecoming Potter was expecting!
