As Danny Welbeck’s beautiful header sailed beyond Édouard Mendy, it was difficult not to feel that we were witnessing the end of Chelsea’s title challenge. The gap to Manchester City stands at an imposing eight points and there was something resigned about the way Thomas Tuchel turned on his heels when Welbeck equalised for Brighton, who would have been the victims of a gross injustice had they left Stamford Bridge with nothing to show for a splendid performance.
Unable to build on Romelu Lukaku’s first-half header, Chelsea could have few complaints after slumping to their third draw in their past four league games.
