High flying Chelsea continued their positive form with an impressive display away at relegation-battling Southampton. The Saints fans can be happy with the fight and determination their team showed for most of the game as in the end, they were outclassed by Chelsea. The blues made seven changes to the side that beat Aston Villa 3-0 on Sunday and it didn’t affect them in this game as they took an early lead through France international Axel Disasi heading in from an in-swinging Enzo Fernandez corner.
Southampton hit back four minutes later from a well worked move and goal finished by former Rangers playmaker Joe Aribo with a well guided finish past Filip Jorgensen. However, this joy was short lived for the saints as they would go on to be dominated by the blues. Chelsea stepped up a gear after Southampton equalised as winger Noni Madueke pounced on a mistake from Saints goalkeeper Joe Lumley to set up Christopher Nkunku to slide the ball into an open net as he got his 12th goal of the season.
Enzo Maresca’s side wet on to create more chances with the best chance coming to talisman Cole Palmer who had his shot tipped onto the post by Lumley. In the 34th minute Chelsea doubled their advantage with a delightful curled shot from England international Madueke to silence Southampton fans.
To make the task even harder for Southampton they were down to ten men just before half-time club captain Jack Stephens was sent off for violent conduct as he pulled Chelsea left-back and European champion Marc Cucurella’s hair in the Chelsea penalty area. Stephens was not initially sent off but VAR official Matt Donohue advised for referee Tony Harrington to review the decision on the monitor which led to the centre-backs dismissal.
After the interval, waves of Chelsea attacks kept advancing towards Lumley’s goal as opportunities fell to former Portugal wonder-boy Joao Felix, Nkunku and Madueke. These were chances that Chelsea should’ve been more clinical with.
Chelsea continued their domination as they made it 4-1 as World cup winner and club captain Fernandez played a through ball into Nkunku who made a smart turn however his shot was deflected which took the pace off the ball which led to Cole Palmer being most aware to the situation as he ran onto the ball to tap in.
To cap off a five-star performance from Chelsea in the 87th minute they increased their tally to five as on-loan Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho smashed a powerful shot to the near post to beat Lumley to rub salt into Southampton wounds and send Chelsea fans back up the M5 in high spirits.
The blues will be filled with confidence heading into Sunday’s derby match against rivals Tottenham Hotspur which they will be desperate to win in Tottenham’s own ground and gain bragging rights over the North London club.