At Broadfield Stadium, Sandy Baltimore scored her fourth WSL goal of the season to put Sonia Bompastor's side 1-0 up after 16 minutes, before the hosts equalised in the 22nd minute through Marisa Olislagers.

And after a battling first half from both sides, it was Brighton who took a 2-1 lead into half-time after their captain Vicky Losada scored from inside the box in the 42nd minute.

But Lauren James made it two goals from two in the WSL and her third of the campaign when she netted Chelsea's equaliser in the 61st minute from close range to make it 2-2, helping her side claim a valuable league point.

Girma makes debut as four changes made

There was a Chelsea debut for Naomi Girma, who joined the Blues for a world-record fee in January, with the defender one of four changes made from our last WSL match a fortnight ago. Lucy Bronze, Wieke Kaptein and Aggie Beever Jones all returned to the XI.

The first chance of the match fell to the hosts when former Chelsea forward Fran Kirby saw her effort blocked, before Madison Haley looked to bury the rebound, but she scuffed her effort and it was collected by Hannah Hampton.

Kirby soon saw another strike from range denied and this time it was intercepted by Bronze who comfortably tracked the ball before clearing her lines.

Our first foray into the box saw Lauren James release Johanna Rytting Kaneryd with a through ball down the right flank. The Swedish international cut the ball back into the box, looking to find Beever-Jones but her pass was behind the English forward and the opportunity was missed.

And just moments later the Blues took the lead. Some individual brilliance in the penalty area from James allowed our No.10 to cross the ball to Baltimore, helped on by a flick of the head from Sjoeke Nusken, and she fired it into the back of the net.

The Seagulls looked to respond almost immediately with Nadine Noordam dragging a shot wide after she latched on to a Haley cross.

Chelsea had come into the game since taking the lead, but it was soon level as Brighton netted the equaliser in the 22nd minute. Olislagers struck the ball into the bottom corner after being teed up by Parris down the left wing.

James looked to restore our lead just minutes later when she was gifted acres of space in the final third and unleashed a strike from outside of the box, but the forward - who had been lively thus far - saw her effort collected by goalkeeper Melina Loeck.

It was end to end stuff at this point, with 20 minutes of the first half left to play, with Parris rising highest in the Chelsea box to send a looping effort just over the bar.

The Seagulls went so close to taking the lead, but some brave goalkeeping from Hampton denied Kirby a goal against her former club as the Blue shotstopper diverted her strike behind for a corner.

The hosts did soon go in front and it arrived when Losada side-footed the ball into the back of the net from inside the box. The Brighton captain sent her strike beyond Hampton after connecting with a ball sent in by Rachel McLauchlan.

Work to do

There was an immediate impact from Chelsea's half-time substitution Oriane Jean-Francois, who replaced Keira Walsh, as she saw her drive from the edge of the area go behind for a corner.

At the other end, Brighton's first opportunity of the second half saw Haley link up with Kirby and then Parris, who saw her strike from inside the box comfortably collected by Blues goalkeeper Hampton.

The hosts looked to hit Bompastor's side on the counterattack following our corner, with Kirby going one-v-one with Bronze. The former Blue managed to get a shot away but it was saved by Hampton, before Girma did well to put her body on the line to deny Losada the rebound.

It was 2-2 just after the hour mark and it arrived thanks to the involvement of substitute Mayra Ramirez. The Colombian had been picked out by a Beever-Jones through ball and saw a strike saved before James thumped the rebound into the back of the net.

We went close to going 3-2 up with Beever-Jones once again playing her team-mate through, this time to Rytting Kaneryd. The winger chopped the ball onto her left foot and unleashed a shot, forcing Loeck to push it wide of the post.

James went had a go at bagging her brace when she stepped up for a free-kick from 25 yards out, but her effort from the setpiece dropped just wide of the post.

With only minutes remaining, Jean-Francois saw the ball drop to her feet following a corner and she hit a powerful strike goalwards that bounced around the bodies in the box. Nathalie Bjorn looked to latch onto the rebound, but before she could do so, goalkeeper Loeck smothered the ball and stopped our attack.

Just like she had done against Everton a fortnight ago, James looked to net an injury-time winner but her shot from only a few yards out was denied by a strong palm of Loeck and it finished 2-2.

What it means

The 2-2 draw against Brighton means we remain at the top of the WSL table, now with 41 points after 15 games played. We sit five points clear of second-placed Manchester United.

What next

It is a quick turnaround for Bompastor's side following today's exertions as we return to WSL action on Wednesday night when we host Leicester City at Kingsmeadow, with kick-off scheduled for 7.30pm.

The teams

Brighton & Hove Albion: Loeck; Thorisdottir, McLauchlan (Bremer 76), Olislagers (Hayes 90+4), Bergsvand, Pattinson, Kirby (Seike 76), Losada (Stefanovic 68), Noordam, Haley, Parris
Unused subs: Baggaley, Agyemang, Pegram
Scorer: Olislagers 22, Losada 42
Booked: McLauchlan 29

Chelsea: Hampton; Bronze, Bright, Girma (Bjorn 59), Baltimore, Walsh (Jean-Francois 46), Nusken (Ramirez 59), Kaptein (Macario 81), Rytting Kaneryd (Lawrence 81), James, Beever-Jones
Unused subs: Spencer, Sarwie, Brown, Jones
Scorer: Baltimore 16, James 61
Booked: James 90+10