Chelsea U23 ease relegation fears with victory at Brighton | OneFootball

Chelsea U23s eased their PL2 relegation concerns with victory at Brighton last night.

Two goals either side of half-time were enough to secure victory.

The young Blues surrendered possession in the first half with only a 34 per cent share, but they focused on countering the Seagulls and pressing them into mistakes. Indeed, it was through this that Chelsea took the lead through Lewis Hall who headed in from a Josh Brooking cross.

The second half required much more concentration from a defensive perspective and again despite conceding some chances to their opponents, a counter led by Thierno Ballo allowed Harvey Vale to drive at his man in the box and Odeluga Offiah fouled him, giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot.

Jayden Wareham stepped up to score from 12 yards out.

There was late pressure as a Xavier Mbuyamba mistake at the back allowed Andrew Moran to fire at goal and his shot deflected over Ted Sharman-Lowe into the net.

Chelsea managed to handle the pressure and see the game out as the three points moves them within a point of third-from-bottom Leeds United with a game in hand.

Chelsea (3-4-3): Ted Sharman-Lowe; Josh Brooking, Xavier Mbuyamba, Bashir Humphreys; Dylan Williams, Xavier Simons, Ben Elliot (Charlie Webster 76), Harvey Vale; Lewis Hall (Joe Haigh 68), Thierno Ballo, Jude Soonsup-Bell (Jayden Wareham 63).

Unused subs: Lucas Bergstrom, Dion Rankine.Scorers: Lewis Hall 30; Jayden Wareham 75 (p).Booked: Xavier Simons 20; Lewis Hall 34.

Brighton Hove & Albion (4-2-3-1): Thomas McGill; Odeluga Offiah, Ed Turns, Haydon Roberts, James Furlong; Marc Leonard (c), Jack Spong; Benicio Baker-Boatiey (Cameron Peupion 67), Andrew Moran, Jeremy Sarmiento (Todd Miller 48); Evan Ferguson (Lorent Tolaj 82).

Unused subs:

James Beadle, Jack Hinchy.

Scorer:

Andrew Moran 81.

Booked:

Marc Leonard 49; Haydon Roberts 75.