Here’s Dominic Fifield’s match report:
Full time: Southampton 0-2 Chelsea
That was an extremely impressive performance from Chelsea, perhaps their best of the season. Their defence didn’t give Southampton a sniff, and Eden Hazard and Diego Costa were full of menace on the break. Since moving to a back three they have won four league games in a row by a combined score of 11-0. They are less adventurous than the three sides above them but they look dangerous and durable. Thanks for your company, night.
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89 min Diego Costa is replaced by Michy Batshuayi. He had a terrific game.
87 min Chelsea bring on Branislav Ivanovic for the impressive Victor Moses.
85 min Austin has a goal disallowed for offside after robbing David Luiz. It was the right decision, though it was extremely close.
84 min Another excellent Chelsea attack. Costa curls a long pass to the wing-back Moses on the right. He runs across the line of the box, uses Willian by not using him and belts a left-footed shot that is too hot for Forster to hold.
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81 min A summary of this match.
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78 min Substitutions galore. Chelsea introduce Willian for Pedro; Southampton bring on Sam McQueen and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for Dusan Tadic and Ryan Bertrand.
76 min Southampton almost pulled one back. Martina’s curling cross was met at the near post by Davis, who headed it onto the challenging David Luiz. From there it looped over Courtois and onto the top of the bar.
74 min Chelsea have been brilliant in the second half. Before half-time they were excellent defensively but offered almost nothing going forward. Since the break they could have scored four or five.
71 min Hazard almost repeats his goal against Manchester United last week. He ran at Martina on the left of the box, moved the ball infield and drove it low across goal. It wasn’t quite in the corner, however, and Forster got down smartly to his left to save.
69 min Bertrand breaks down the left and wafts a nice cross towards Austin, who gets above Cahill on the six-yard line but thumps his header over the bar. That was Southampton’s best chance of the match.
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68 min Southampton have only had one shot on target, Tadic’s free-kick in the first half. That tells you how well Chelsea have defended.
67 min This game is done. Chelsea are in full catenaccio mode and Southampton have no answer.
63 min How did that stay out? Moses’s shot was spilled by Forster to Hazard, who calmly squared it across the six-yard line for Costa. Forster was out of the game but there was a defender on the line and Costa, for some reason, tried to give the goal to Pedro. His pass was slightly behind Pedro, who was eventually crowded out by the defence. It was lovely play from Hazard, reminiscent of Karel Poborsky’s brilliant assist for Vladimir Smicer in the 3-2 win over the Netherlands at Euro 2004.
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61 min Southampton make their first change, with Clasie replaced by Sofiane Boufal.
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58 min Almost a third goal for Chelsea. Hazard’s low cross to the near post is swept over the bar by Costa, who was under pressure from the sliding Fonte on the six-yard line.
57 min This has been an immaculate away performance from Chelsea. It’s hard to believe it’s just over a month since they were a mess at Arsenal.
GOAL! Southampton 0-2 Chelsea (Diego Costa 55)
This is a wonderful goal from Diego Costa! Chelsea took a short free-kick on the left, where Hazard gave the ball to Costa. He moved infield and them, just from just outside the box, smacked a magnificent curling shot into the far corner. Brilliant. He was helped by some half-arsed defending from Martina, who couldn’t be bothered to close him down properly, but it was still a fantastic goal.
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55 min Chelsea look very comfortable defensively, and a bit more purposeful in attack than they were in the first half. This is their best spell of the game.
52 min Chelsea counter-attack promisingly until Alonso picks the wrong option, a shot from 25 yards, and executes it dismally.
50 min Matic heads the corner over the bar.
49 min Fonte saves a goal with a crucial interception. Kante drove a crossfield pass to Alonso, who delivered a beautiful low cross along the six-yard line. Fonte, sliding towards his own goal, knew he had to do something because Hazard was behind him waiting to score, and he just managed to slice it wide of the far post from a corner.
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48 min Southampton have some decent attacking options on the bench, including Boufal, McQueen and Hojbjerg. I suspect they’re going to need them.
46 min Southampton kick off from left to right. Peep peep!
Half-time reading
Half-time: Southampton 0-1 Chelsea (Hazard)
Peep peep! Chelsea have done an efficient number on Southampton, scoring early through Eden Hazard and defend in the Serie A style. Southampton have not played badly at all but they are really struggling to add the progression to their possession. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
45+1 min Southampton appeal for a penalty when Austin goes over after an aerial challenge with Kante. There was nothing in that.
44 min “Shearer last night said that Aguero is the only world-class player in the Premiership,” says Ian Copestake. “Given there are only about five world class players in the actual world then perhaps his comment has no actual shock value.”
43 min Austin does exceedingly well, Mr Kipling, to win a corner for Southampton. Bugger all happens from the corner, however, so he needn’t have bothered.
41 min Matic robs Clasie and plays a gentle through pass for Costa. He lumbers into the box and whacks a low shot that is kicked away by Forster. That’s a crucial save because you can’t see Southampton coming back from 2-0 down against this defence.
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38 min Good play from Hazard, who veers away from Van Dijk and Romeu 20 yards from goal before hitting a low curling shot that is comfortably saved by Forster.
33 min A desperate clearance from David Luiz finds Hazard on the left. He has a great chance to put Pedro through on goal but mishits his crossfield pass. Eventually it comes to Moses, whose shot deflects wide for a corner.
31 min This is almost like a training session, with Southampton attacking and Chelsea defending. Chelsea look superbly organised at the back and Southampton can’t make any progress.
27 min Alonso shoves Tadic over 25 yards from goal. He’s been the weakest of Chelsea’s back seven thus far. The free-kick is a far way to the right of centre, and Chelsea only have a three-man wall. Tadic curls it low around that wall and Courtois plunges to his left to palm it round.
23 min Tadic started the match superbly but hasn’t been involved much in the last 10 minutes. For all their nice passing, Southampton haven’t really got behind Chelsea.
21 min Davis’s corner from the left is headed back to him by Cahill. He lobs another cross beyond the far post, where the under-pressure Fonte can’t direct his header on target.
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20 min Hazard looks menacing every time he gets the ball. After missing almost all of last season through apathy, he is fit and firing again.
17 min “I’m glad to see Chelsea finally showing signs of change after playing in a similar way regardless of manager,” says Nas Iqbal. “Conte’s trust in Luiz and Moses is reaping big rewards right now.”
They look formidable defensively now, with three centre-backs and Kante and Matic in front of them. Good luck getting through that mob.
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16 min Southampton win a corner on the left, play it short and make a balls of it.
14 min Davis’s inswinging free-kick from a narrow position to the left is headed well wide by Austin, lurking near the penalty spot. That was a decent chance but he got far too much on the header.
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13 min Southampton have responded well to going behind, with some confident, easy passing.
9 min “I still have not quite recovered from the cricket this morning, me not being the type to be glad of a loss despite the incessant practice,” says Ian Copestake. “So I hope Southampton can build a good lead before tea.”
8 min This has been a cracking start to the match, and Redmond almost slithers through the Chelsea defence at the other end. He would have done so but for that pesky Matic, who made an excellent interception.
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7 min As Gary Neville says on Sky, “once you’re one against one with Hazard in the box, you’re dead”. He beat Davis easily and then cracked the shot through Forster.
GOAL! Southampton 0-1 Chelsea (Hazard 6)
Chelsea take the lead! It’s a classy goal from Hazard, who is starting to look back to his best. He moseyed over to the right side of the box to receive a return pass from Moses, turned inside Davis and belted a low left-footed shot through the legs of Forster.
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5 min Tadic picks up a loose ball on the edge of the box and hits a shot that is well blocked by Matic. Moments later, after Tadic makes a fool of Alonso, Romeu hooks a bouncing ball over the bar from 30 yards.
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3 min “Okay Rob,” says Matt Loten, “first poser of the afternoon for you: what is Pedro doing right to keep Chelsea’s best player of last season, Willian, on the bench? Don’t get me wrong, the Spaniard has plenty of qualities - you don’t play in that Barcelona team without qualities - but to my mind Willian is a far more consistent threat, and better at playing the ball between the lines. His free kicks aren’t half bad either. Is Conte just sticking with a winning team, or is Pedro really the better choice?”
Willian is probably a better player but I’d say Pedro suits the 3-4-3 system a bit better. Also, Pedro was superb last week so I’m sure there is an element of not changing a winning side. I can’t see Willian being on the bench for long, especially as you could play him in a few positions.
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2 min Hazard makes a good angled run to the right of the box before crossing towards Costa at the near post. His attempted shot is blocked by a defender and dribbles through to Forster.
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1 min Peep peep! Chelsea kick off from left to right. They’re in blue; Southampton are wearing the usual red-and-white stripes.
The players emerge from the tunnel into the cool Southampton air. The weather’s nice. A little brisk.
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The teams
Southampton (4-D-2) Forster; Martina, Fonte, Van Dijk, Bertrand; Romeu, Davis, Clasie; Tadic; Redmond, Austin.
Substitutes: Taylor, McQueen, Yoshida, Hojbjerg, Ward-Browse, Boufal, Olomola.
Chelsea (3-4-3) Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro, Costa, Hazard.
Substitutes: Begovic, Ivanovic, Terry, Chalobah, Oscar, Willian, Batshuayi.
Referee Mike Jones
Preamble
Chelsea are the team of the season so far. No, you big eejit, I don’t mean they’ve been the best team, but they are the team who best reflect the old-fashioned unpredictability of the 2016-17 Premier League season.
In the first few weeks, when they picked up all those points through late goals, they were apparently the likeliest challengers to the Manchester clubs. Then they were an in-transition shambles who even lost to Arsenal. Now, after Antonio Conte’s switch to three at the back, they are apparently the likeliest challengers to Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.
William Goldman was right: nobody knows anything. So we might as well just enjoy what looks like a cracking game between Chelsea and the always admirable Southampton. Chelsea are the only team to win a league match at St Mary’s this year, a reflection of how tricky a match this is likely to be. A win for Chelsea would take them within a point of the top three; a win for Southampton would take them above Manchester United.
Kick off is at 4pm.
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Rob will be here soon enough. Until then, read Antonio Conte’s thoughts on fruit and varying formations:
Under Antonio Conte Chelsea’s stomachs are settling. It has been a fraught 12 months but three Premier League wins of increasing significance have brought a pronounced change in tone and the manager’s tweaks, both on and off the pitch, appear to have swiftly borne fruit.
In fact fruit is only part of it. Conte’s reputation for keeping firm control over his players’ diets preceded his arrival in July and, in relaxed form at Cobham before Sunday’s visit to Southampton, he explained that his insistence on balanced food intake stems from a penny dropping late in his playing career.
