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Enzo Maresca admits Chelsea star requested substitution in defeat to Brighton

Originally posted on HITC | By Dom Toner | Last updated Sep 28, 2025 1:52 PM ET

Enzo Maresca was active on the touchline during Chelsea’s loss to Brighton, making several substitutions after Trevoh Chalobah’s red card. One of those changes came down to cramp, though.

Chelsea have only themselves to blame for Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Brighton in the Premier League.

The Blues had taken the lead through Enzo Fernandez and were playing well before Trevoh Chalobah’s early second-half red card swung the game in Brighton’s favour. The Seagulls capitalised, scoring three times against a side down to ten men.

Despite injuries to key players like Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s starting XI was still strong enough to secure a favourable result. But for the second straight league game, they went down a man – this time with Chalobah following Robert Sanchez’s example from the Manchester United match – and made things much harder than they needed to be.

Jorrel Hato showed signs of fatigue during Brighton defeat

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca explained in his post-match press conference that 19-year-old Jorrel Hato had to be taken off late against Brighton due to cramp.

He said (via Football.London): “And then the last change, Jorrel was asking for a change because he had cramp.”

Maresca’s decision-making will be questioned again after some of his defensive changes following the red card, but the Hato switch was not just a tactical call – it was necessary.

Here is how Chelsea managed the substitutions during the match:

Off	Minute	On
Andrey Santos	54th	Josh Acheampong
Estevao Willian	63rd	Malo Gusto
Jorrel Hato	79th	Benoit Badiashile
Pedro Neto	79th	Romeo Lavia

Paul Merson has already suggested that Maresca could come under increased scrutiny if results do not pick up soon, so all eyes will be on how he and the squad respond from here.

Jorrel Hato’s stats against Brighton

Signed from Ajax for £37m according to BBC Sport, Jorrel Hato was making only his second Premier League start during the loss to Brighton. Given that limited experience, it is not a huge shock he was struggling with cramp by the end.

The 18-year-old has been filling in at left-back since arriving at Stamford Bridge but shifted over to centre-half this week due to a lack of fit defenders.

Minutes played	Accurate passes	Accurate long balls	Tackles	Ground duels won	Dribbled past	Match rating
79	46/55 (84%)	1/4 (25%)	1	2/3 (67%)	1	6.6

Jorrel Hato’s performance in Chelsea 1-3 Brentford via FOTMOB

There have already been suggestions that Chelsea might look to send Hato out on loan in January. But considering his age and position change, it would be far too early for the club to make any long-term decisions about him now.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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