Chelsea 1-0 Southampton: Player Ratings

Southampton

Fraser Forster - 5/10

Despite making a few good saves in the first half to keep out Chelsea, Forster's poor positioning and lack of urgency to get down cost them the goal and possibly three points on the night.

Maya Yoshida - 5/10

The Japanese international was robust in the challenge and made a few crucial blocks to prevent Chelsea from grabbing a few more goals. However, Yoshida was at fault for giving away the successfully converted free-kick when he fouled Eden Hazard at the edge of the area and picked up a booking in the process.

Jack Stephens - 5/10

Stephens was constantly troubled by Chelsea's pace and was almost exploited towards the end when Morata and Fabregas proved to be a handful for the defender who picked up a booking for venting out his frustration at the referee.

Wesley Hoedt - 5/10

The Dutchman also did not enjoy a lot of his involvement during the game and had no answer to Chelsea's slick and smooth movement inside the final third.

Ryan Bertrand - 7/10

Bertrand impressed on his return to Stamford Bridge

The former Chelsea left-back continued his consistent run of form with a commanding performance. Bertrand was one of the very few bright aspects of Southampton's performance and the Saints will be hoping that the hamstring problem he picked up towards the end isn't as serious as it looks.

Oriol Romeu - 6/10

Romeu was neat and tidy in possession for Southampton in the first half but eventually faded off when Chelsea started keeping the ball better, forcing the Spaniard to haplessly cover a lot of ground.

Pierre-Emile Hojberg - 5/10

The Dane could not stamp his authority on the game despite the promising start and was steam-rolled by the efforts of Kante and Bakayoko in the middle of the park.

Cedric Soares - N/A

The full-back picked up an injury in the 17th minute and was replaced by Mario Lemina

James Ward-Prowse - 5/10

Ward-Prowse got himself into a few key positions inside Chelsea's final third in the first half but nothing crucial came out of his best efforts to try and swing the momentum in his team's favour.

Manolo Gabbiadini - 4/10

The Italian was left out on his own for the majority of the game and enjoyed no involvement whatsoever throughout the game. It seemed as if he was not on the same wavelength as his teammates after nobody managed to detect a few runs made by him on the night.

Nathan Redmond - 5/10

The winger also failed to give the Chelsea defenders a real run for their money and was not his usual self, who thrives in stretching his counterparts to the limits, and was restricted his own half on a few instances.

Substitutes

Mario Lemina - 5/10

Lemina came on to replace Cedric in the first half and suffered the same fate as the teammates around him when he helplessly watched Chelsea slowly take control and scrape out a win.

Charlie Austin - 6/10

The striker came on and quickly made an impact when he forced Courtois to make his first proper save of the game. Austin made a few problems for Chelsea and should have started the game ahead of Gabbiadini.

Sofiane Boufal - 5/10

Boufal came on with time running out on the clock and enjoyed very little involvement to create any impact whatsoever for his side.