BRIGHTON, England (AP) — Brighton completed a league and cup double over Chelsea on Friday after beating the London side 3-0 for the second time in a week.
Brighton beat Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup last Saturday and took all three points in the Premier League on Friday thanks to a moment of magic from Kaoru Mtoma and brace from Yankuba Minteh.
With 27 minutes gone, the Japanese striker brought down a hopeful punt forward by Bart Verbruggen with aplomb and powered past the last man before firing a low shot past Filip Jorgensen.
Mitoma was also involved in Brighton’s second 11 minutes later. He danced through the Chelsea penalty box before firing a low shot across goal. The defense cut out the cross but couldn’t clear the danger and the ball fell to Minteh who stroked it home.
The Gambian winger got his second and Brighton’s third 17 minutes into the second half after working a nice one-two with Danny Welbeck and firing in from a tight angle as the Chelsea defense stood and watched.
It was the third loss in its last four games for an insipid Chelsea side and left it in fourth place in the Premier League table, four points behind Nottingham Forest, which has a game in hand.
Brighton climbed two places into eighth.
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The Associated Press
