Chelsea bounced back from two consecutive defeats as they demolished Southampton 6-0, to strengthen their grip on third place.
Thomas Tuchel demanded a response and he got just that with four first-half goals.
Marcos Alonso fired home the first of the afternoon and then Mason Mount got the next, both with powerful low shots.
Mistakes then creeped into the Saints team, James Ward-Prowse’s header accidently set up Timo Werner who rounded the keeper and made it three, then it was Mohamed Salisu, who tripped over the ball leading to Kai Havertz netting the fourth.
In the second half, Werner and Mount both got their second goals with simple tap-ins as Southampton were completely embarrassed.
It says a lot when a team concedes six goals but their goalkeeper, Fraser Forster, is the only player in a Saints shirt who can come away from the game with a small amount of pride as he made eight saves keeping the score down.
Total domination is the only way to describe Chelsea’s performance as they registered 14 shots on target and had 71% possession.
It’s not the first time Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have been on the receiving end of a shocking score line, they have lost 9-0 twice before and there was a feeling when Chelsea netted their sixth on the 54th minute that we could see a repeat of those two bad occassions. However, the West Londoners took their foot off the gas as Mount and Thiago Silva were subbed off.
Tuchel and his players were attempting to save energy towards the end of the game with an eye on Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid to come.
TALKING POINT – The perfect response from Chelsea
After the shock of last weekend’s display against Brentford, followed by another disappointing day at Stamford Bridge in midweek when a Karim Benzema inspired Real Madrid to beat them 3-1, this was the ideal response from Tuchel’s men.
They came out the blocks with hunger and intensity, simply blowing Southampton away with their accurate passes and energetic pressing. Chelsea played like a team that had a point to prove and despite their opponent’s own failings, scoring so many and playing so well deserves praise.
It was vital they got back to winning ways with the FA CUP semi-final also approaching and they did so in style. Chelsea will travel to Madrid with more belief now and the manager will have a selection dilemma after the likes of Werner played well, and was unlucky not to have a hat-trick hitting both posts and bar as well as his two goals.
MAN OF THE MATCH – Mason Mount (Chelsea)
He was simply brilliant today as were many of his team mates but he gets man of the match for his role in starting the rout. He chested the ball down expertly for Alonso’s goal showing great vision and he then followed this up with a well taken second goal. Mount had time on the edge of the box and his shot was not saveable.
PLAYER RATINGS
Southampton: Forster 6, Livramento 4, Bednarek 3, Salisu 3, Walker-Peters 6, Ward-Prowse 3, Romeu 3, S.Armstrong 4, Elyounoussi 4, A.Armstrong 4, Adams 5. Subs: Valery 4, Diallo 5, Smallbone 6
Chelsea: Mendy 7, Christensen 7, Silva 7, Rudiger 7, Loftus-Cheek 8, Kante 7, Kovacic 7, Alonso 8, Mount 9, Werner 8, Havertz 9. Subs: Pulisic 7, James 6, Ziyech 6.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
8′ – GOAL! 0-1: Loftus-Cheek crosses to Mount in the box he cleverly chests it down to Alonso arriving at the back post and he fires a shot low that Forster was never saving.
16′ – GOAL! 0-2: Loftus-Cheek again has space on the right he fires a low cross that’s cleared but it only falls to Mount who takes one touch and strikes a low powerful shot into the bottom corner.
21′ – GOAL! 0-3: Ward-Prowse oh dear. He heads it back looking for his defence but it goes over Bednarek and there’s a chase on. Werner is always going to win it and he goes around the goalkeeper and slots home wonderfully.
31′ – GOAL! 0-4: Salisu should just clear it instead he tries to dribble around two Chelsea players but he trips over the ball and they attack.Werner hits the post and Havertz is their for the rebound to tap into an empty net.
49′ – GOAL! 0-5: Southampton are ridiculously open. Kante tried to chip Forster and it’s saved. However, it falls to Werner to tap into an open goal. His second of the game.
54′ – GOAL! 0-6: Alonso has acres of space down the left, he puts in a low cross to Pulisic who shoots and it is saved well by Forster. It eventually falls to Mount, another tap in, another goal.
