'Not a great thing to do' - Fabian Hurzeler backs his captain after fiery incident during Brighton's visit to Chelsea
Nine bookings, including one red card, tell you it was a heated match between Chelsea and Brighton.
With the scores level at 1-1 – and the match approaching injury-time – tensions reached a tipping point at Stamford Bridge.
Albion forward Yankuba Minteh went down clutching his head in the box after Malo Gusto lifted a high boot.
With Brighton’s coaching team frantic in their appeals for a penalty, the incident then sparked chaos inside the penalty box.
There was a lot of pushing and shoving between the players – particularly Albion captain Lewis Dunk and Blues defender Benoît Badiashile. Both players, alongside Brighton centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke, had their cards marked by referee Simon Hooper.
But first, former Seagull Rob Sanchez acted as peace-maker – dragging Badiashile away from Dunk.
Sanchez – whose red card cost his team at Manchester United the weekend before – knew ten-man Chelsea had to keep their heads, if they were to survive an Albion onslaught with 11 minutes added on.
Despite a penalty controversially not being given for the Gusto / Minteh incident, there was a sense of inevitability that Brighton would go on to win the game.
Find a winner they did – and they even had time to score a third against a beleaguered Chelsea.
Asked for his view on the penalty box melee – which seemed to de-rail the hosts further – Albion boss Fabian Hurzeler said: “I didn't see it perfectly but I think the main thing was that we really stayed calm; had good positioning; a good structure in possession to create a one against one situation; to create the crosses and then attacked the box.
“I wouldn't say that this changed massively – I think it was more the positioning and the belief from my team to score every second of the game.”
Asked if it takes a ‘brave man to take on’ Dunk, like Badiashile did, Hurzeler added: “I think that's not a great thing to do.
"But in the end we should play football, I think that's the main thing, focusing on football – trying to be the best player you can be.
"My skipper is there for my team and therefore I think it's very important that he steps into it in the right moments.”
‘The message has been quite clear’
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will understandably be immensely frustrated after watching his team go down to ten men, and subsequently lose, in consecutive weeks.
And seeing his players get involved in that penalty box drama at 1-1 would only have intensified his anger.
Asked if he would like to see more professionalism and control from his players, the Italian said: “I didn't see that moment that you just mentioned. So I don't know if it's from Benoît or it's from the Brighton player.
"I think also it's a matter of the momentum there. But I don't see this kind of thing as a consequence for the goal, a reason why we conceded the goal.
"The message that we just said inside [the dressing room] has been quite clear.
“As any team in the Premier League knows, you cannot continue to give away presents. What we are doing in this moment is giving away presents in terms of red cards. It's a big mistake because the game completely changed.
“It's a tough one because we were in control of the game, we scored one and we didn't concede nothing.
"We had so many shots in the first half, 70 per cent of possession, everything was fine. And then suddenly, because of our mistake, and then with the red card, again, the plan completely changed.”