Football: Brighton beat Frank Lampard’s Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge

LONDON – Brighton & Hove Albion ruined Chelsea boss Frank Lampard’s return to Stamford Bridge with a 2-1 comeback win on Saturday as substitutes Danny Welbeck and Julio Enciso condemned the Blues to a third defeat in three games under their interim coach.

Lampard, who rested several first-choice starters before Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid, at least saw the Blues score the first goal of his second spell in charge when Conor Gallagher’s deflected shot beat Robert Sanchez in the Brighton goal in the 13th minute.

But the visitors, under coach Roberto De Zerbi, were the better side for long spells, forcing Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga into fine saves and hitting the bar before they drew level when Welbeck squeezed between two defenders to head in off the post in the 42nd minute, shortly after coming on.

The Seagulls got the second goal that they deserved when Paraguayan Enciso scored with an unstoppable shot from 25 yards in the 69th minute, bolstering Brighton’s hopes of European football for the first time in their history next season.

“It’s important we try to pick up as many points as we can,” Welbeck told the BBC. “With the confidence in the team we know we can go anywhere and cause problems.”

Brighton hammered Chelsea 4-1 in October, a result which set in train a slump in form for the London side that led to the dismissal this month of Graham Potter as coach, six months after the Blues had poached him – and four other backroom staff – from the south-coast side to replace Thomas Tuchel.

Brighton’s fans revelled in the contrasting fortunes of the two clubs, greeting Chelsea’s expensively assembled players with chants of “What a waste of money” before kick-off as Chelsea’s American co-owner Todd Boehly looked on from the stands.

The result left Brighton seventh in the Premier League, five points ahead of Liverpool. They are also in the FA Cup semi-finals, facing Manchester United next weekend.

Chelsea remain marooned in 11th position with their only hope of any silverware this season dependent on their ability to turn around a 2-0 deficit against reigning European champions Real Madrid at home on Tuesday.

Saturday’s defeat followed a 1-0 loss away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in Lampard’s first game back as caretaker coach last weekend and the unsuccessful visit to the Spanish capital in midweek.

“I’m disappointed on every level,” Chelsea’s all-time top goal-scorer told the BBC. “The better team won. They could have won by more. They played like a team.”

Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, blew a gilt-edged chance to rekindle their hopes of finishing in the Premier League’s top four when relegation battlers Bournemouth snatched a last-gasp 3-2 away victory over them on Saturday.

Substitute Dango Ouattara’s superb finish in the fifth minute of stoppage time secured a vital three points for Bournemouth whose fans celebrated wildly as their side took another step towards top-flight survival.

For the hosts, their chances of playing in the Champions League next season look bleak after a 10th defeat of the season.

Third-placed Newcastle United’s lunchtime defeat at Aston Villa had opened the door for Tottenham and they duly went ahead in the 14th minute when Son Heung-min fired them into the lead.

But Tottenham lost their way and a mistake at the back by Pedro Porro was punished as Matias Vina equalised for Bournemouth in the 38th minute.

Bournemouth went ahead six minutes after the break when Dominic Solanke dinked a close-range finish past Hugo Lloris.

Tottenham, who could have gone above fourth-placed Manchester United for 24 hours at least with a win, raised their intensity level and Arnaut Danjuma’s left-footed goal in the 88th minute set up a frantic finale.

With the hosts searching for a winner Richarlison was inches away from giving Tottenham the lead but Bournemouth then broke forward and the ball reached Ouattara who cut in from the left before arrowing a right-foot finish beyond Lloris.

Tottenham remain in fifth place with 53 points from 31 games, three behind Manchester United and Newcastle United who have played 29 and 30 games respectively. Spurs play at Newcastle next weekend and also still have to face Manchester United later this month.

Bournemouth’s survival prospects are now looking much rosier as they have 33 points, six more than third-from-bottom Nottingham Forest.

“It is a really tough day today because we didn’t achieve what we wanted,” Tottenham’s interim manager Cristian Stellini said. “If Richarlison scores that opportunity we are probably here to enjoy a moment. But now we do not enjoy because we allowed them to score three goals.”

Bournemouth have now won three of their last four league games and are pulling away from trouble.

“We try not to get carried away,” manager Gary O’Neil said. “We will enjoy this and then it will be gone and put into the memory banks for the fans to enjoy.

“There is a huge week next week and we need to be ready.”

Disgruntled Tottenham fans had been given a tonic by Newcastle’s loss and when Son slotted in from Ivan Perisic’s cutback the mood was buoyant in the weak April sunshine.

Son was denied a second goal by a fingertip save from Neto but Bournemouth always looked a threat, with Marcus Tavernier forcing a superb save from Lloris.

From a position of strength, Tottenham threw away the initiative as Porro gave away the ball and Solanke played a pass to Vina who coolly lifted a shot over Lloris.

Tottenham were forced into a substitution with injured defender Clement Lenglet being replaced by Davinson Sanchez and it was Sanchez who had an inadvertent hand in Bournemouth’s second goal early in the second half.

The defender’s attempted tackle merely played the ball into the path of Solanke who finished well.

Dutch forward Danjuma, given precious little time to impress since joining Tottenham on loan from Villarreal, brought the stadium to life with his first league goal for the club, but the mood was soon to turn flat for the home faithful.  REUTERS