Southampton 1-5 Chelsea: Jack Stephens sent off for hair pull as Blues thump 10-man Saints to close gap to Liverpool

Noni Madueke starred and Cole Palmer was but once more on course as Chelsea lower the hole to leaders Liverpool with an emphatic 5-1 victory at 10-man Southampton.

The Blues eased in entrance on seven minutes when Axel Disasi was allowed to nod dwelling Enzo Fernandez’s left-wing nook from shut vary.

Southampton levelled 4 minutes later when Joe Aribo polished off tremendous work from Kyle Walker-Peters, however a howler from goalkeeper Joe Lumley allowed Madueke to tee up Christopher Nkunku to roll into an empty web and restore the guests’ lead on 17 minutes.

The spectacular Madueke then bought in on the objective act when he lower in from the appropriate and curled a scrumptious strike into the far nook previous the half hour.

Southampton’s night soured additional simply previous to the break when Jack Stephens was proven a straight pink card after the referee was suggested to seek the advice of the pitch-side monitor for his pull of Marc Cucurella’s hair.

Chelsea utterly dominated the second half and ultimately scored once more when Palmer inevitably bought his objective, tapping into an empty web after Nkunku’s shot dribbled previous Lumley.

Substitute Jadon Sancho added a fifth three minutes from time to finish a complete victory for Enzo Maresca’s males.

Subsequent up, Southampton go to Aston Villa on Saturday, whereas Chelsea journey to Tottenham on Sunday.

Chelsea’s power in depth has enabled Maresca to successfully area two completely different sides within the Premier League and the UEFA Europa League this season, and he allowed lots of his European stars to shine right here.

Certainly, The Blues have been a lower above an error-prone Southampton and will have racked up a good higher margin of victory had they proven extra of a killer intuition within the second half of a really one-sided affair.

Certainly, the Londoners’ solely three defeats of their final 29 top-flight matches have been away to Arsenal and Liverpool and at dwelling to Manchester Metropolis. It is heavyweight, constant type, and has inevitably propelled them into reckoning on the high of the standings.

Maresca might attempt to play down his aspect’s probabilities of pushing for the title this season, however they’re very a lot within the combine and, on this type of proof, may nicely excel past his expectations even additional this season.

An actual menace on the appropriate, combining onerous work with electrical tempo and talent. Arrange Chelsea’s second of the night time after which added a killer third to cap a wonderful night time’s work.

SOUTHAMPTON: Lumley 5, Walker-Peters 7, Bree 6, Stephens 3, Manning 7, Wooden-Gordon 6, Aribo 7, Fernandes 6, Fraser 6, Archer 6, Armstrong 6. Subs: Sulemana 6, Brereton Diaz 6, Sugawara 6, Taylor n/a, Edwards n/a.

CHELSEA: Jorgensen 8, Gusto 8, Disasi 8, Tosin 8, Cucurella 8, Fernandez 9, Caicedo 8, Madueke 9*, Palmer 8, Felix 8, Nkunku 8. Subs: Sancho 7, Veiga n/a, Dewsbury-Corridor n/a.

07’ – GOAL! – Southampton 0-1 Chelsea: (Disasi). The guests seize the lead as Disasi simply heads dwelling Fernandez’s left-wing nook on the close to submit.

11’ – GOAL! – Southampton 1-1 Chelsea: (Aribo). The hosts are again in enterprise! It is a tremendous response as Aribo fires dwelling a first-time shot from close-range after good work by Walker-Peters down the left.

17’ – GOAL! – Southampton 1-2 Chelsea: (Nkunku). It is extra surprising play from Lumley. The goalkeeper performs a horrible move to Walker-Peters, permitting Madueke to nick the ball and feed Nkunku to roll into an empty web.

34’ – GOAL! – Southampton 1-3 Chelsea: (Madueke). The Blues have respiratory area. Felix feeds Madueke on the far proper of the realm and he cuts inside earlier than curving a low strike into the far nook.

39’ – SOUTHAMPTON RED CARD! VAR intervenes to tell the referee that Stephens pulled Cucurella’s hair contained in the Chelsea penalty space. The official takes a take a look at the monitor and returns to the pitch to scale back The Saints to 10 males. Sheer insanity from the Southampton man.

77’ – GOAL! – Southampton 1-4 Chelsea: (Palmer). Cole Palmer will get his objective, slamming into an empty web after Nkunku’s shot had bobbled previous Lumley however wasn’t sure to cross the road.

87’ – GOAL! – Southampton 1-5 Chelsea: (Sancho). It is five-star Chelsea – they usually deserve it. Sancho is left free to the appropriate to step inside the realm and rifle past Lumley at his close to submit.