Brighton have stepped into the European places after a 3-0 win against Chelsea, who succumbed to their fifth league loss in a row.
Goals from Ferdi Kadıoglu, Jack Hinshelwood and Danny Welbeck were enough for the Seagulls to pick up all three points and jump to sixth in the Premier League.
The Blues, who drop down to seventh, have endured a horrible run of form, scoring no goals in their last five losses.
The result saw travelling supporters direct explicit chants towards manager Liam Rosenior during a dismal second-half performance.
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Hinshelwood scored Brighton's second goal of the night | PAThe defeat leaves Chelsea seven points adrift of Liverpool in fifth, who have a game in hand on the Blues.
Brighton's dominance was evident from the opening moments, with Kadioglu converting inside three minutes after Kaoru Mitoma had forced Robert Sanchez into an early save.
The Turkish defender guided home Pascal Gross's corner following a deflection off Wesley Fofana.
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Rosenior's side have now lost five in a row in the league
|PA
Chelsea's attacking options were severely depleted, with Cole Palmer, Estevao and Joao Pedro all absent through injury.
The Blues failed to trouble Bart Verbruggen throughout the contest, registering no shots on target.
Their team news had reportedly been leaked on social media earlier in the day by Marc Cucurella's barber.
Rosenior made tactical adjustments at half-time, withdrawing centre-back Fofana in favour of winger Alejandro Garnacho.
Brighton now moves up to sixth in the league
|PA
His own supporters mocked the change with ironic chants of "we've had a shot" when Romeo Lavia fired an effort over the crossbar.
The second goal arrived after Moises Caicedo lost his footing, leaving Trevoh Chalobah isolated at the back.
Georginio Rutter capitalised on the error, feeding Hinshelwood, who finished coolly into the bottom corner.
Substitute Marc Guiu came closest to salvaging something for the visitors, but his deflected effort drifted wide of the post.
A comfortable evening for Brighton saw them cruise to a 3-0 win
|PA
Brighton's goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen remained a spectator as Chelsea's attacking impotence continued.
The misery was complete in stoppage time when Welbeck converted Maxim De Cuyper's low delivery from the left.
The Seagulls have now accumulated 19 points from their last eight matches as they push for European qualification.
Chelsea must now regroup ahead of Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Leeds, having won just one of their last eight league games.
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