Enzo Maresca has urged Chelsea to start winning games by fine margins after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Brighton on Saturday.

The Blues went ahead in the fifth minute thanks to a Bart Verbruggen own goal, but Brighton turned the game on its head as Georginio Rutter and Kaoru Mitoma completed the comeback.

Chelsea have now failed to win five of their last seven games in all competitions when scoring first (D2 L3), while they have won just three of their last 10 outings (D3 L4).

They have also failed to progress beyond the fourth round of the FA Cup in two of the last three seasons, as many times as in the previous 24 campaigns combined (fourth-round eliminations in 2010-11 and 2014-15).

Chelsea were unable to find an equaliser after Mitoma's 57th-minute goal, despite chances for Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer and Tyrique George, but Maresca noted that his team needed to focus on better protecting their leads.

"It's for sure a shame, no doubt," Maresca reflected. "We need to learn how to win games 1-0. I said many times.

"In the same way, in the last game against West Ham, we were losing but, in the end, we won 2-1. That is part of the season, part of football, sometimes you are down and win, and sometimes it happens like [against Brighton].

"But I said already to the players weeks ago – and said again – that as a team we need to learn to win games 1-0. That is what big teams do."

Brighton, meanwhile, bounced back from a thumping 7-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League in their last game with this win at the Amex Stadium.

The Seagulls, who limited Chelsea to just one shot on target throughout, have reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the third consecutive season, the first time they have done so in their history.

Head coach Fabian Hurzeler was delighted with the response his team showed after that heavy loss.

"Great reaction. We showed character after that start. I'm proud of how they came back. It's not easy. That's why it was well deserved," Hurzeler told BBC Sport.

"It was a togetherness on the pitch. It's a team performance. They bounced back; they stuck together. They didn't point fingers after losing. They took ownership.

"We always try to stay grounded and work hard. We try not to get euphoric after a good win or panic after a defeat.

"That's why we all love football, because you can bounce back. It's not always going up, it's downs. In life, it's important to know a successful journey is not a comfortable journey."