The scale of Chelsea's fall from grace was thrust into the cold light of day as they were dominated by Brighton in a 2-1 defeat on Saturday.

This could have been much, much worse for Chelsea and Frank Lampard on his return to the Stamford Bridge dugout.

It was already something of a role reversal before kick-off, with Brighton pushing for the European places and Chelsea down in mid-table – but few could have predicted the action would be so true to form.

Brighton dominated a heavily-rotated Blues side from the first whistle, and while it could have been 4, 5 or 6-1 by full-time, it was ultimately kept down to 2-1 courtesy of a rocket from Seagulls substitute Julio Enciso.

Alexis Mac Allister went close twice and Evan Ferguson smashed the crossbar inside 15 minutes, but the hosts snatched the lead against the run of play when Conor Gallagher's strike took a wicked deflection and looped over Robert Sanchez.

Not to be deterred, Brighton continued their onslaught after falling behind, with both Kaoru Mitoma and Ferguson drawing excellent saves from Kepa Arrizabalaga before Chelsea's brief resistance was broken by a Danny Welbeck header.

Although Christian Pulisic hit the post and Chelsea were more competitive in the second period, there was an air of inevitability about the result. Sure enough, with 20 minutes to go, Enciso took aim from fully 25 yards and crashed home a wonderful winner.

That's three defeats in as many games for Chelsea since Lampard's return, with the small matter of Real Madrid on Tuesday.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Stamford Bridge…

Getty ImagesLOSER: Frank Lampard

On his return to the Stamford Bridge dugout, the interim manager named a heavily-rotated and experimental starting XI, with no recognised striker or even false nine in the side.

Suffice to say, it didn't pay off.

Whether this was Lampard resting players or simply trying something new is unclear, but Chelsea were always likely to need their strongest possible XI to overcome a Brighton side that is flying – resting players for a Champions League clash when you are so out of form is a huge risk.

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Lampard's men didn't only lose the game, but they were utterly dominated from start to finish. The team selection was undoubtedly a contributing factor, with Benoit Badiashile, Denis Zakaria and Christian Pulisic all clearly short of match fitness, while Raheem Sterling was completely isolated as the lone striker.

A very forgettable homecoming for Lampard.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesWINNER: Conor Gallagher

One of very few players who was up for the fight in the Chelsea ranks, and although his performance wasn't always perfect, he was the catalyst for some of his side's best moments, and, of course, he broke their long, long wait for a goal.

It was always going to take a stroke of luck to end that five-hour drought, and the massive deflection on his strike was exactly that – but Gallagher had to be in the right place to have the chance in the first place.

Deployed as the most advanced of a three-man midfield, the England international was exactly where he needed to be to benefit from good work by Mykhailo Mudryk, making his own luck as his shot hit a defender and looped over the goalkeeper.

It wasn't enough to rescue a point and he is certainly still rough around the edges, but you have to admire Gallagher's endeavour.

Getty ImagesLOSER: Raheem Sterling

It always looked like a questionable decision to deploy Sterling as a lone striker or false nine against Brighton's towering central defenders, and it proved to be a poor decision.

With Chelsea under the cosh for most of the game, the diminutive Sterling was forced to feed off punted clearances and imprecise long balls that were simply hoovered up by Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster.

It was not necessarily for want of trying – Sterling is a willing runner and it is not his fault that those behind him failed to create the kinds of openings where he is more likely to pose a threat.

However, the home support were clearly unimpressed with what they saw, with loud jeers as he was hooked just 55 minutes in.

Getty ImagesWINNER: Kepa Arrizabalaga

Kepa's role as No.1 goalkeeper was called into question this week, with rumours swirling that Lampard was considering restoring Edouard Mendy – the man he signed to replace Kepa in 2020 – to his starting line-up.

As it was, the interim boss stuck with the Spaniard, and while he could do little about the goals, he repaid that faith in key moments.

With Chelsea 1-0 up, Kepa made an absolutely sublime save from Mitoma's goal-bound effort, getting down to palm the ball away. He was called into action again shortly afterwards, turning Ferguson's bullet header over the crossbar.

He may have ended up on the losing side, but Kepa's place as Chelsea's No.1 should be assured for the time being.