Enzo Maresca slammed Chelsea's display in their 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Friday, labelling it "the worst performance" since he arrived at Stamford Bridge last year. 

The Blues were outclassed by their opponents at the Amex Stadium, with Kaoru Mitoma's stunning effort followed up with two goals either side of half-time from Yankuba Minteh. 

With Chelsea confirming that striker Nicolas Jackson would miss the next six weeks with a hamstring injury, Maresca's side struggled in his absence on the south coast. 

Despite averaging just under 70% possession, Chelsea failed to register a shot on target in a Premier League game for the first time since September 2021 (v Manchester City).

Cole Palmer wildly lashed two strikes over Bart Verbruggen's goal, with substitute Tyrique George almost seeing his cross turned into his own net by Adam Webster late on.

But that was about as close as they came to troubling Brighton, with the result leaving the Blues inside the top four for now, with Manchester City and Newcastle United lurking. 

Indeed, Chelsea are now winless in five away matches in the Premier League (D2 L3), though their inconsistent form has not just been away from Stamford Bridge. 

They have picked up just nine points from their last nine top-flight games, after taking 34 from their opening 16 matches of the season at an average of 2.1 points per fixture. 

And Maresca, who arrived from Leicester City last June, could not hide his frustration at his side's latest setback as their top-four hopes took a hit on the south coast. 

"Probably since I arrived that is the worst performance, especially in the moment we are in," Maresca told BBC Sport.

"We are fourth in the league and by winning tonight you can go one point from third and make the gap to the rest bigger and the performance is not one you want to offer, so we are very upset and sorry for the fans that were here.

"For half an hour I think we were in control but after that moment [Kaoru Mitoma's goal] we looked like we could concede chances easily, and we struggled to create chances.

"The reason why is because of the injuries in this moment, especially with the strikers...important players are out, but we need to find a solution.

"It is difficult when you don't have a proper number nine. So you always have to find a different solution. In the last third, we struggled doing things, until a week or two ago we were doing well."