James spares Blues blushes with equaliser as Chelsea fail to spark in 2-2 draw with Brighton
By Paul Lagan at Broadfield Stadium
Brighton and Hove Albion 2 v Chelsea 2
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Chelsea dropped two vital WSL points with a poor away day performance against Brighton, drawing 2-2 after taking the lead, going 2-1 down before snatching a second half strike from Lauren James.
The home fans greeted the end of the game like it was a win, and for them it was, but for the west Londoners it means, that although they remain unbeaten, their lead to Manchester United is now five points.
An international break always hits the tops sides harder as they have more players away on duty and often a lot further away.
But it also means they need to start the game on the front foot – in this instance they failed to.
It was a very poor start by the visitors, Brighton opting to try and get an early goal.
It was five minutes before Chelsea had the ball in the home side's half – a reckless long pass by Lauren James to no one.
A succession of corners only added to the tension in the Blues rearguard who had Naomi Girma making her debut for the west Londoners after her world-record breaking transfer from the States - £850,000 for the centre back.
But with the first attack worthy of the name, Chelsea took the lead on 16 minutes.
Some excellent one-touch play on the right eventually found James, who cut the ball across the six-yard box. The ball was knocked out to in-running left wing back Sandy Baltimore who produced an excellent controlled left-footed volley that sailed over Melina Loeck and into the back of the net.
Brighton got their deserved equaliser on 23 minutes when Bright was caught in midfield leaving Bronze to deal with the transition.
The right back did her best, but with Bright chasing back, Marisa Olislagers and Nikita Parris worked well on the left, leaving Olislagers with a tricky shot but she did well and it zipped past Hannah Hampton.
Chelsea getting caught in the counter-attack almost proved their undoing on 34 minutes when a simple ball put Fran Kirby through.
The ex-Chelsea star scored many a goal from this position and was favourite to put Brighton ahead, but her shot hit Hampton’s shoulder and went for a corner instead.
It fair to say Chelsea were more comfortable going forward than defending.
And so it proved with four minutes to the break. Skipper Vicky Losada tucked home from close range to put Brighton 2-1 as the Blues were caught napping in the left back position, and not for the first time.
Keira Walsh was replaced at half-time by Oriane Jean- Francois.
A classic Kirby run from the half-way line where she even had a shot on target parried away by Hannah was systematic of Chelsea's in ability to deal with the counter-attacking threat.
Bright was on hand to hack the ball off the line seconds later as the game threatened to pull away from the champions.
It was a disappointing end to debutant Girma's game as she left the pitch with what looked like a left calf injury. Mayra Ramirez also came on for Sjoeke Nusken – both on 60 minutes.
Within a minute, Ramirez's first touch resulted in a shot which was blocked, but the ball fell to James who made no mistake and the Blues levelled the match at 2-2.
Chelsea were still susceptible to the Brighton counter and Nadine Noordam should have done better but her effort sailed over Hampton's crossbar on 64 minutes.
A quick break by Chelsea on 72 minutes saw a classic Johanna Rytting Kaneryd pick up and play, and her trademark curling left-footer from the edge of the Brighton penalty area was well parried away by Loeck.
Chelsea made a double substitution on 81 minutes, off went Rytting Kaneryd for Ashley Lawrence and Catarina Macario replaced Wieke Kaptein.
Even with nine minutes added to the 90, it made no difference. Honours even.
Teams: Chelsea: Hampton, Bronze, Bright, Girma, Baltimore, Kaptein, Walsh, Nusken, Kaneryd, Beever-Jones, James
Subs: Spencer, Lawrence, Charles, Bjorn, Brown, Jones, Jean-Francois, Macario, Ramirez
Brighton: Loeck, Thorisdottir, Pattinson, Bergsvand, Losada, Parris, Kirby, Noordam, Olislagers, Haley, McLauchlan
Subs: Baggaley, Bremer, Seike, Hayes, Stefanovic, Agyemang, Pegram
Referee: Kirsty Dowle
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