Chelsea moved into sixth place on the table with victory at Brighton on Wednesday night.
Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku struck for the Blues before Danny Welbeck found an injury-time consolation for Brighton. Reece James was sent off late on for kicking out at Brighton's Joao Pedro.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino said: "The approach of the game, facing a team that plays well like Brighton, it's a massive credit to our players. I'm so happy and the three points puts us in a very good position in the table to attack the last game against Bournemouth for the possibility to be in Europe.
"Brighton is a very good team and it's always difficult to play here.
"We have improved results and performances. We talked about patience and when you need to build something you need time but it always looks like an excuse at a big club. We have kept working and being positive and to finish in a good way would be good for the club."
On whether VAR should be used in the Premier League next season, he added: "It's not my decision. We're living in an era of technology and for me it's not in or out, yes or no on VAR, it's about improving how we use it."
