Mauricio Pochettino has insisted people should not be surprised by Chelsea’s recent form after their win at Brighton put them on the verge of securing European football for next season.
“The performance since the start of the season has been good,” said the Chelsea manager. “Now it’s because we’re winning games that it looks good. The problem is that people only analyze the result,” Pochettino added.
The Blues finished 12th last season but have now won four Premier League games in a row for the first time since 2022 and are expected to finish sixth. If they avoid defeat at home to Bournemouth on Sunday, they will be guaranteed European football next season.
“I’m so happy for the players and they deserve the credit. I feel so proud,” Pochettino admitted. “The three points here hopefully allow us to achieve what we want, which is to play in Europe,” he added.
Goals from Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku gave Pochettino’s side a two-goal lead, but an otherwise perfect evening for Chelsea was dampened by Reece James’ straight red card for violent conduct in the 88th minute.
Mauricio Pochettino says people shouldn’t be surprised Chelsea have found form
The Blues picked up a huge 2-1 win over Brighton at the AMEX Stadium on Wednesday.
Cole Palmer (centre) played again, with Chelsea now on course to win European football next season.
Danny Welbeck pulled one back for Brighton in added time, but it was ultimately only a consolation.
“The red card is painful because it was a fantastic night of football and now he will miss the last game,” said Pochettino, who insisted he did not see the incident in which James attacked Joao Pedro.
Meanwhile, Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi admitted his side had a tough night at the office as Lewis Dunk joined an ever-growing injury list.
“Remember, we are Brighton. Chelsea’s replacements were (Raheem) Sterling, (Christopher) Nkunku and (Reece) James.
“We only have 14 players at the moment,” stressed De Zerbi. “I hope Lewis (Dunk) is well and available for Sunday but more importantly for him, I hope he is available for the Euros,” he added.
Christopher Nkunku gave Pochettino’s side a two-goal lead, their third in the league this season.
A perfect night was ruined after captain Reece James was shown a straight red card
Danny Welbeck pulled one back in injury time, sliding the ball past Djordje Petrovic
Roberto De Zerbi denounced some of the decisions unfavorable to his team during the match
When asked if he was in favor of VAR after a match which featured numerous VAR interventions, De Zerbi refused to comment but admitted he was unimpressed with referee Michael Salisbury.
“I didn’t like the referee and his control of the game. It was a clear penalty on (Simon) Adingra,” De Zerbi said. “We have to talk about the level of referees as we talk about the level of coaches.”