Chelsea 0-2 Southampton: Saints claim vital win at Stamford Bridge
Michael Obafemi scored for the first time in 12 months to give Southampton the lead
Chelsea lost consecutive home league games for the first time since 2011 as Southampton earned a key win in their fight against relegation at Stamford Bridge.
The home side never got going during the opening 45 minutes and Michael Obafemi's superbly taken strike from 18 yards gave Saints a deserved lead.
The introduction of Mason Mount for defender Kurt Zouma at the break threatened to inject energy into Frank Lampard's side but only a vital Fikayo Tomori intervention prevented the away side a second.
And with 20 minutes remaining, a superb team move saw the ball break for Nathan Redmond and his simple finish from 10 yards wrapped up six points for Ralph Hasenhuttl's side from festive away games at Aston Villa and the Blues.
Abject Chelsea lose five from seven
Hasenhuttl was suitably impressed and raced on to the pitch with his fists clenched on the final whistle after a result which moved his side up to 14th in the Premier League - three points above the drop zone.
Southampton - on 21 points - are six better off than they were at the same halfway stage last season. Lampard can only dream of such progress with Chelsea fourth in the Premier League but eight points worse off than they were under Maurizio Sarri after 19 games last term.
This defeat means Chelsea have now lost five of their last seven league games and their display was in keeping with such form.
Despite coming off Sunday's win at Tottenham, Chelsea found no sort of rhythm and when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg found Obafemi, he was allowed time and space to progress, shift the ball on to his left foot and fire high into the net from the edge of the box.
Chelsea's Cesar Azpilicueta flicked a corner into the six-yard box - forcing the impressive Alex McCarthy to help the ball away from danger - but it took the home side until the stroke of half-time to find the target with a tame effort from 30 yards.
Mount came off the bench and quickly gave Tammy Abraham the chance to fizz a shot into the side-netting. The striker was denied a second chance shortly after when Jack Stephens crucially blocked his path to goal.
But Chelsea were collectively poor and both Tomori and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga make key second-half interventions to keep the score at 1-0.
Lampard's side ran over 5km less than the visitors overall and generally lacked creativity and energy. The January transfer window - where they can again sign players after serving a ban - looks key to giving them the chance to inject something fresh and change their recent fortunes.
More to follow.
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Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text
Line-ups
Chelsea
1Arrizabalaga
2Rüdiger
15ZoumaSubstituted forMountat 45'minutes
29TomoriBooked at 62mins
28Azpilicueta
7KantéBooked at 62mins
5JorginhoBooked at 58mins
33Emerson
20Hudson-OdoiSubstituted forPulisicat 67'minutes
10WillianSubstituted forPedroat 84'minutes
9Abraham
Substitutes
4Christensen
8Barkley
11Pedro
13Caballero
19Mount
22Pulisic
23Batshuayi
Southampton
1McCarthy
2Cédric Soares
5Stephens
35Bednarek
21BertrandBooked at 30mins
17ArmstrongSubstituted forRomeuat 86'minutes
16Ward-Prowse
23Højbjerg
22Redmond
20ObafemiSubstituted forIngsat 69'minutes
10AdamsSubstituted forBoufalat 80'minutesBooked at 90mins
Substitutes
3Yoshida
4Vestergaard
9Ings
14Romeu
19Boufal
28Gunn
38Danso
Referee:
Jonathan Moss
Attendance:
40,651
Match Stats
Home TeamChelseaAway TeamSouthampton
Possession
Home67%
Away33%
Shots
Home10
Away5
Shots on Target
Home3
Away3
Corners
Home8
Away1
Fouls
Home10
Away9
Live Text
Posted at
Match ends, Chelsea 0, Southampton 2.
Full TimePosted at 90'+5'
Second Half ends, Chelsea 0, Southampton 2.
BookingPosted at 90'+4'
Sofiane Boufal (Southampton) is shown the yellow card.
Posted at 90'+1'
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Alex McCarthy.
Posted at 90'+1'
Attempt saved. Mason Mount (Chelsea) right footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Posted at 90'
Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Posted at 90'
Foul by Oriol Romeu (Southampton).
Posted at 89'
Mason Mount (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 89'
Foul by James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
Posted at 88'
Attempt missed. Mason Mount (Chelsea) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Emerson.
SubstitutionPosted at 86'
Substitution, Southampton. Oriol Romeu replaces Stuart Armstrong.
Posted at 85'
Foul by Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea).
Posted at 85'
Danny Ings (Southampton) wins a free kick on the left wing.
SubstitutionPosted at 84'
Substitution, Chelsea. Pedro replaces Willian.
Posted at 83'
Attempt missed. César Azpilicueta (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Emerson with a cross following a corner.
Posted at 82'
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Cédric Soares.
Posted at 81'
Jorginho (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 81'
Foul by Sofiane Boufal (Southampton).
SubstitutionPosted at 80'
Substitution, Southampton. Sofiane Boufal replaces Che Adams.
Posted at 77'
Offside, Chelsea. Mason Mount tries a through ball, but Tammy Abraham is caught offside.
Posted at 76'
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Alex McCarthy.
Posted at 76'
Attempt saved. Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Mason Mount.
Goal!Posted at 73'
Goal! Chelsea 0, Southampton 2. Nathan Redmond (Southampton) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal.
Posted at 71'
Mason Mount (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 71'
Foul by James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
SubstitutionPosted at 69'
Substitution, Southampton. Danny Ings replaces Michael Obafemi.
Posted at 68'
Willian (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Posted at 68'
Foul by Nathan Redmond (Southampton).
SubstitutionPosted at 67'
Substitution, Chelsea. Christian Pulisic replaces Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Posted at 66'
Attempt blocked. Stuart Armstrong (Southampton) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 65'
Corner, Southampton. Conceded by César Azpilicueta.
Posted at 65'
Attempt saved. Nathan Redmond (Southampton) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Stuart Armstrong with a through ball.
Posted at 63'
Offside, Southampton. Ryan Bertrand tries a through ball, but Michael Obafemi is caught offside.
BookingPosted at 62'
Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card.
BookingPosted at 62'
N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 62'
Foul by N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea).
Posted at 62'
Che Adams (Southampton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 59'
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Jack Stephens.
BookingPosted at 58'
Jorginho (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Posted at 57'
Foul by Jorginho (Chelsea).
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Source: bbc.com
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