Premier League 2019/20, Chelsea 2-0 Brighton: Hits & Flops

Chelsea moved up to 6th place with their 2-0 victory over Brighton as they created history in beating Brighton every time of the 9 occasions the two teams have come up against each other in the history of English football. As is now the norm, the Blues created plenty of chances and had they been more fortunate or had Brighton not laid a few bodies on the line, the score could've been much more heavily skewed in Chelsea's favour.

The home side put up 26 shots, 10 of them on target to finish with a two-goal win. If that reads as a bit wasteful, perhaps it was as both Marcos Alonso and Tammy Abraham failed to put away some golden chances.

Brighton kept Chelsea at bay for the entirety for the first half, but the determined Blues kept knocking and found goals through Jorginho and Willian to hand them the victory. Here are the top performers and others who could've had a better 90 minutes.

Mason Mount: Hit

Mount was Chelsea's chief creative spark

This may be true for Chelsea's entire season so far. The young attacking midfielder is now the leading creative spark in this attack. Most of Chelsea's good play went through him as he was able to turn sharply past opponents, lay off the ball for his team-mates and pick passes out to create some whopping chances.

Against Brighton, one particular trait that he has shown all season so far paid off as Mount's decision to press high during a moment of defensive hesitation led to a foul, handing Chelsea a penalty.

He had a couple of other moments of brilliance as he created plenty for the Chelsea attackers but his spark went largely unrewarded in this game.

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Ross Barkley: Flop

Barkley flopped against Brighton

It's not that the England midfielder had a poor game, he had a decent game and managed to even have some really good moments. The reason Ross Barkley's name is among the flops is his incredibly frustrating tendency to dawdle on the ball a shade too long every time Chelsea have it in advanced areas. Often when he failed to release the ball or go past an opponent, Brighton were able to turn the play around and have a go at the Chelsea defence.

Whether it was during a particularly promising run forward or if he had options to pass to, Barkley constantly made poor decisions in advanced areas. Had he been more productive going forward, Chelsea may have put this game to bed earlier than they actually did.

It's a running issue for Frank Lampard to resolve in the absence of star midfielder N'Golo Kante, but at the moment, Barkley doesn't seem to be the answer.

Chelsea clean sheet: Hit

Kepa earned his first clean sheet of the season

Frank Lampard's players missed plenty of chances and should have probably scored a lot more against Brighton, but the aspect of the scoreline that will shout out loud for them is the clean sheet. It's Chelsea's first clean sheet of the season and it comes in their first league home win.

They were a bit lucky in getting it though as Brighton looked like threatening on more than one occasion and even hit the bar in their search for a goal. Nonetheless, the clean sheet will be a cause for celebration as far as the Blues are concerned.

Fikayo Tomori in particular deserves some recognition for a stellar performance at centre-back. He almost left the club on loan before David Luiz made a late exit, and that has worked in Chelsea's favour as the youngster is proving to be Lampard's most consistent pick at the heart of his defence.

Jorginho: Hit

Jorginho stepped up from the spot to score for Chelsea

Often singled out for criticism, the Italian midfielder has impressed Frank Lampard and continues to play as a defensive midfielder despite speculation that the managerial change would also bring about a shift in the midfield pivot dynamic for Chelsea.

Jorginho showed his worth against Brighton, shielding the back for fairly efficiently, but his best work was on the ball as Chelsea had so much of it. The former Napoli man was able to cycle the ball quickly and effectively to let the more attacking players pose a threat in advanced areas of the pitch.

He was also keen to find runs in behind as Tammy Abraham, Willian, and Callum Hudson-Odoi provided good movement going forward. To top off a great performance, Jorginho got on the scoresheet as he took Chelsea's latest penalty after Ross Barkley missed a crucial one against Valencia in the Champions League and Pedro converted from the spot against Grimsby Town. It appears that he has Lampard's backing for lots of starts this season and perhaps penalty duties as well.