Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel blamed fatigue for an alarming slump in form that continued with a 1-1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday.
The European champions have won just one of their past seven Premier League games to realistically end their title challenge and leave the third-placed Blues looking over their shoulder at the contenders for a top-four finish.
For the second meeting with the Seagulls in 20 days, Chelsea surrendered the lead.
Photo: Reuters
The visitors went ahead through Hakim Ziyech’s snap shot, which caught Robert Sanchez in the Brighton goal by surprise.
However, Adam Webster’s towering header earned Brighton a fully deserved point.
“You can see we are mentally and physically tired,” Tuchel said, after his side’s 15th game since the start of last month. “We knew they were well prepared. They had more time and less games to prepare this match.”
Chelsea on Sunday host Tottenham Hotspur in their final league game for nearly a month due to an international break and their commitments at the FIFA Club World Cup next month.
Tuchel is hoping that he can give his squad the rest they need to come back stronger in the final months of the campaign.
“The boys need some days off. There is no other solution,” Tuchel added. “In the moment, it is difficult to be too harsh on our players because I know what is going on.”
Tuchel had been stinging in his criticism of Romelu Lukaku after a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday, but kept faith with the Belgian and Ziyech in attack as Timo Werner and Kai Havertz were again left on the bench.
However, there was little to impress the German once more as Lukaku and Ziyech got into a heated discussion during the first half and the two were replaced after the break.
Brighton, who have only won twice in their past 16 league games, once again lacked the cutting edge to their impressive buildup play.
“I was really pleased and proud of the performance,” Brighton manager Graham Potter said. “We could work the goalkeeper a bit more, but apart from that we had everything.”
After a bright opening, the hosts were hit with a sucker punch when Ziyech justified his inclusion with a powerful low effort that Sanchez should have done better to save down to his left.
After halftime, Kepa Arrizabalaga did brilliantly to turn Alexis Mac Allister’s deflected shot onto the post, but the resulting corner gave Webster a free run to power home from Mac Allister’s cross.
Lukaku had Chelsea’s one clear opportunity to retake the lead when Sanchez blocked the ball into the side-netting.
Lukaku was replaced as Tuchel turned to his compatriots Havertz and Werner for the final quarter, but the duo were just as ineffective.
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