Enzo Maresca explains what happened in Chelsea dressing room with Behdad Eghbali after Brighton

Enzo Maresca insisted it was nothing unusual for multiple Chelsea board members to head into the changing room in the aftermath of the Blues’ 3-1 defeat to Brighton.

Co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali, sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, as well as Joe Shields and Sam Jewell all headed down the tunnel at Stamford Bridge moments after the full-time whistle. Chelsea were defeated by Brighton as another sending off cost Maresca’s men.

Trevoh Chalobah was shown a straight red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity to Diego Gomez early into the second-half and that helped the Seagulls come back from Enzo Fernandez’s opening goal in the first-half. Two goals from Danny Welbeck sandwiched Maxim De Cuyper’s header to give Fabian Hurzeler’s side all three points in west London.

Eghbali led the Chelsea boardroom pack down the tunnel as boos rang round Stamford Bridge, but that was nothing unusual, according to Maresca. “They have been inside the changing room, like always,” said Maresca.

“We have an office inside the changing room, where after every game, we sit and we talk about the game. But they did not say anything to the players. It was nothing completely different compared to the rest of the games.”

The defeat for Chelsea means they will go over a month since their last victory in the Premier League by the time Liverpool come to Stamford Bridge next weekend.

A draw with Brentford, followed by defeats to Manchester United and Brighton mean the Blues finished Saturday three points adrift of the top four.

Brighton, meanwhile, have climbed into the top half of the Premier League table after an impressive display in SW6.

Maresca’s Chelsea welcome Jose Mourinho’s Benfica to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening in their second Champions League league phase match, while Brighton are next in action next weekend away at Wolves.

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