Brighton ruin Lampard’s home return with win at Chelsea; Newcastle, Tottenham lose

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.”

Villa hurt Newcastle

An early strike from Jacob Ramsey and two second-half goals from Ollie Watkins earned Aston Villa a 3-0 win over Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday to move Unai Emery’s rejuvenated team to within six points of the top four.

Ramsey ran on to Watkins’ cushioned header to give Villa the lead with an emphatic side-footed finish in the 11th minute, after an excellent cross by John McGinn.

Watkins added Villa’s second with a sharp strike on the turn from point-blank range in the 64th minute and grabbed his 11th goal in his last 12 matches six minutes from time with a simple finish at the back post.

Tottenham defeated

Tottenham’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League were dented after a 3-2 loss to Bournemouth following Dango Ouattara’s stoppage-time winner on Saturday.

A wild Premier League game was won by the visitors after goals by Matias Vina and Dominic Solanke were added to by substitute Ouattara. It earned the Cherries some revenge after their late pain in the reverse fixture in October.

It capped a bad afternoon for Spurs’ acting head coach, Cristian Stellini, who substituted a substitute — Davinson Sanchez — after the defender’s poor 23-minute cameo and saw his aggressive tactics cost his team. Tottenham had six attackers on the field in the final minutes.

Costa scores in Wolves’ win

Diego Costa’s first Premier League goal for six years helped fire Wolverhampton closer to survival on Saturday.

The striker inspired the hosts to a 2-0 win over Brentford to end his wait for a goal after his September arrival.

Hwang Hee-chan netted the second, with Wolves now seven points clear of the relegation zone with seven games left after successive league wins for just the second time this season.