Brighton 1 Chelsea 1

I can picture the scene sometime between July 2018 and 2 weeks ago: a forlorn Ali Jahanbakhsh, bought from AZ Alkmaar for £1.7m, and largely ineffectual.

An Iranian, he might be in the Persian restaurant in Hove with his family wondering what he is doing here and what will become of him.

Footballers like to play and he had become a forgotten man.

Cue forward to December 28th and el coastico with Bournemouth.

Neil Maupay dribbles into the Bournemouth box turns and passes to Jahanbakhsh who drills the ball home.

He goes berserk – his first goal for the Seagulls and his teammates join in his joyful celebration. The problem for Ali J – as he is known – is there in no obvious place for him in the set-up.

Graham Potter favours a 3-5-1-1.

So for the wide role which is Ali J’s position there is competition from the two overlapping full backs permed from Dan Burn, Martin Montoya and Steven Alzate, and from the more orthodox wingers like Solly March and Jose Izquierdo (both injured).

Ali J could not play in the engine room of Davy Propper, Aaron May and Dale Stephens – nor behind the frontman like Pascal Gross.

Against Chelsea, Graham Potter played a diamond 4-4-2.

This was disastrous as, employing a narrow diamond, Chelsea could and did take full advantage of the space ahead of their fullbacks.

They soon took the lead.

Aaron May, a fabulous box-to-box player, did not fit in behind Nail Maupay.

Potter changed it around and Ali J got onto the pitch. A ball was played into the box behind him and he met it with an overhead kick. This is a technique which requires the most precise execution but he carried it out to perfection.

It’s hard for the keeper to read it as the forward’s back is to goal. It’s like a mortar bomb from nowhere. Chelsea keeper Kepa had an excellent game but he could not get near the  shot.

Brighton deserved the draw. However, the sad thing for Ali J is that I still cannot see how he becomes more than an impact sub.