EPL: Brighton spoil Chelsea’s New Year party

…Villa secure vital win

Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s spectacular overhead kick earned Brighton a share of the points against Chelsea and dampened Frank Lampard’s New Year celebrations on Wednesday as Aston Villa secured a vital win against Burnley.

Chelsea’s 1-1 draw on England’s south coast gave them a five-point lead over fifth-placed Manchester United in the race to secure Champions League football for next season.

Cesar Azpilicueta gave the visitors an early lead, tapping in from close range following a corner in the 10th minute but Brighton were never out of it and pulled level in the 84th minute courtesy of Jahanbakhsh’s moment of magic.

“It was frustrating for different reasons,” Lampard told BT Sport. “In the first half, the game was there to be won. We weren’t ruthless enough. We got the goal and we had the possession. But we just didn’t kill the game off.

“We allowed them to stay in the game. In the end it was a wonder goal but we were lucky not to lose the game.”

The Chelsea boss said he was concerned about the lack of consistency from his side, who have beaten Tottenham and Arsenal in recent weeks but also lost at home to Southampton.

The away side dominated the opening hour of the match but were clinging on at the end with the impressive Kepa Arrizabalaga denying Neal Maupay in the closing minutes.

Christian Pulisic will rue three wasted openings that ultimately prevented Chelsea from cementing their dominance.

Lampard’s team were quickly on top from the start of the match and deservedly took the lead through Azpilicueta, who finished from close range after the ball fell to him.

But Brighton enjoyed a spell of possession towards the end of the first half and Leandro Trossard tested Kepa with a powerful strike that the Chelsea goalkeeper parried.