After back-to-back defeats – and a visit to current league leaders Tottenham Hotspur to come on Tuesday – three points were needed on the south coast. 

In an evenly contested first half, the deadlock was broken in the 19th minute through Chelsea forward Chizaram Ezenwata, who found the bottom corner for his 15th goal of the season.

Both sides exchanged chances early in the second period, but we added to our lead just after the hour through Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli and a third arrived soon after as Reggie Walsh finished from close range. 

Brighton pushed hard to find a route back into the game, but the Blues were able to see the game out, keep a clean sheet, and come away with an important win. 

An even opening

Having defeated Arsenal by three goals last weekend, Brighton started the game with confidence and fashioned the better opportunities in the early stages.

Seagulls midfielder Zach Brennan forced the first save of the game, as he collected a pass from Jacob Parsons, shifted the ball onto his right foot and whipped a shot to the far corner. Blues goalkeeper Toby Bell reacted well to palm the ball wide.

Bell was called into action again moments later, as an attempted pass into the Blues' penalty area fell kindly for Raffaele Oppong, whose powerful close-range drive was well stopped by the Chelsea goalkeeper.

Going ahead

Those early saves proved important as, in the 19th minute, we opened the scoring. After a run forward from Mathis Eboue was halted, Ezenwata collected the ball, wriggled away from a Brighton defender and coolly placed a finish into the far corner.

We fashioned a good opportunity to quickly double our advantage as Kobe Barbour was fed the ball in the Brighton box, and he did well to trick his way past Cristiano Ekene Anah and fire towards the near post. The hosts' stopper, Liam Doyle, saved well.

The game continued to ebb and flow and Seagulls midfielder Isaiah Alakiu came close to levelling the contest with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Fortunately, for the Blues, his attempt bounced narrowly wide of Bell's post.

Our clearest sight of goal across the remainder of the first half came from Walsh, who whipped a free-kick over the wall and toward the top corner. Doyle did well to push the ball wide, but we went into the interval ahead.

Searching for a second

The Blues continued to carry a threat after the interval, and we came very close to extending our advantage after Barbour broke down the right flank and closed in on the Brighton goal. The Blues winger lifted his finish beyond Doyle, but the ball drifted narrowly wide.

Both sides then traded chances. Alakiu came close once more with a volley that went inches wide of the Chelsea goal before Eboue was found after a run into the Brighton penalty area, but he guided his finish into the side netting.

Ezenwata came very close to scoring his and our second of the game as he collected a low cross from Watson, turned and shot. A combination of Doyle and the covering Tate Ferdinand managed to divert the ball wide.

Extending our lead

It proved only a temporary reprieve for the hosts, though, as we doubled our lead from the following corner. A neatly worked routine saw the ball fed to Nicoll-Jazuli in the penalty area and he coolly guided a finish across goal and into the corner.

A third soon arrived. Ezenwata was involved once more as he cleverly cut the ball back to Walsh inside the area, and the Blues midfielder was left with an easy finish.

Brighton pushed hard for a route back into the game and the Seagulls hit the woodwork twice in succession following a corner. Alakiu rattled the crossbar from close-range before Parsons deflected a shot onto the post.

Those chances proved the last moments of genuine danger for the Blues, as we saw out the rest of the game to record a clean sheet and take the three points.

What it means

The Blues move to within four points of league leaders Tottenham, but we have two games in hand on our London rivals.

What's next

We can close the points gap to our London rivals on Tuesday as we travel to north London to face Spurs. Kick off is at 5pm – and you can watch the game live on the Official Chelsea App and website.

The teams

Chelsea Under-18s: Toby Bell, Riley Ebho (Lewi Richards 68), Olutayo Subuloye (c), Calvin Diakite, Yisa Alao, Isaac Badu, Reggie Walsh, Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, Kobe Barbour, Chizaram Ezenwata (Jashayde Greenwood 72), Mathis Eboue (Sol Gordon 68)
Chelsea Under-18s substitutes: Aaron Walfoord, Dante Waite
Goalscorers: Ezenwata 19, Nicoll-Jazuli 61, Walsh 67
Booked: Ebho 43, Richards 85

Brighton Under-18s: Liam Doyle, Jackson Morby (Finn Dzekawong 61), Tate Ferdinand, Sebastian Ademola, Cristiano Ekene Anah (Liam Crutchett 61), Isaiah Alakiu, Zac Brennan, Bode Newnham-Reeve, Raffaele Oppong (Theo Outen 61), Bailey Palmer (Jake Evans 80), Jacob Parsons
Brighton Under-18s substitutes: Henry Kasvosve
Booked: Ademola 37, Alakiu 77