Kaoru Mitoma scored a superb opener as Brighton loosened Chelsea's grip on a place in the top four of the Premier League with their second victory over the Blues inside a week.

The result means the Seagulls, who also knocked Enzo Maresca's side out of the FA Cup last Saturday, move up to eighth in the table, four points adrift of Manchester City in fifth.

City, Newcastle and Bournemouth, who all have a game in hand, have the opportunity to leapfrog Chelsea if they win on Saturday.

Japan forward Mitoma set the hosts on their way, superbly controlling goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen's long pass forward with a delicate touch, before cutting inside Trevoh Chalobah and curling a low effort past Filip Jorgensen into the right corner of the Chelsea net.

From that point on the result rarely looked in doubt as Brighton deservedly recorded their first home league win since 9 November.

Yankuba Minteh added their second before the break with a low close-range effort after some excellent work from the impressive attacking duo of Danny Welbeck and Georginio Rutter.

While Chelsea controlled possession for long periods, they struggled to fashion many clear-cut opportunities against Fabian Hurzeler's side aside from an early Cole Palmer effort that flashed wide and an Enzo Fernandez header that was disallowed for a push on home defender Joel Veltman.

Gambia forward Minteh rounded off the scoring for Brighton just after the hour mark, with Chelsea, who looked shaky in defence all evening, exposed down their left as the winger drove a low effort past Jorgensen at his near post.

Brighton came into this contest looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat and the way they celebrated with their fans at the final whistle suggests that the humiliating 7-0 loss at Nottingham Forest has been quickly cast aside.

They were sharp in and out of possession and had a focal point up front unlike Chelsea, with Nicolas Jackson's absence keenly felt as the visitors failed to muster a shot on target despite attempting 717 passes to Brighton's 320.

The hosts also showed greater intensity to win the ball back in key areas with Chalobah's rushed clearance contributing to their second goal, and Welbeck pressuring Levi Colwill into a mistake for the third.

While Chelsea were only narrowly beaten in the FA Cup, this was a far more humbling experience, with Veltman threatening to add to their miserable trip to the south coast late on, when he hit the post.

On this evidence there are plenty of issues for Maresca to address, with the Italian labelling his team's display as their "worst" since he took the helm last summer.

"The performance is not one you want to offer so we are very upset and sorry for the fans that were here," Maresca said.

"They are completely right to be upset, especially in this moment of the season. To come here and play in the way we played, not on the ball, in terms of desire, we probably need to show more."

Noni Madueke limped off early on to add to Chelsea's growing injury woes and Palmer, whose sparkling form has helped carry the club into a position to compete for a Champions League place, appeared out of sorts.

Marc Cucurella looked vulnerable down their left, with Madueke's replacement Jadon Sancho struggling to make any impact and the defensive errors that have underpinned their season were again evident to see.