The last Premier League game on Sunday saw Chelsea claimed their fourth consecutive league victory with an assuring 2-0 win over Southampton at St. Mary’s.
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Eden Hazard opened the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes of the game as the Blues continued their impressive performances in recent weeks and finished the Saints off as they doubled their lead in the second half thanks to a fine strike from outside the box by Diego Costa.
Chelsea moved into the top four at the expense of Tottenham and have now scored 11 goals without reply since losing at Arsenal. Claude Puel’s side struggled to cope with a well-oiled Chelsea side and will aim to put in a much better performance when they take on Hull City next.
Here are the player ratings for the game.
Southampton
Fraser Forster – 5/10
Forster will be disappointed with himself after allowing Hazard’s shot to sneak through between his legs but could do nothing to prevent Costa’s curling effort. He was also guilty of parrying a couple of shots into dangerous areas but was not punished for it.
Cuco Martina – 4/10
The right-back struggled against the excellent Hazard and simply couldn’t keep up with the Belgian. Martina was also partially blamed for Chelsea’s second goal as he did a poor job in closing down Costa.
Jose Fonte – 6/10
The Portuguese international had a decent outing despite his defence conceding two goals. He martialled the dangerous Costa well and forced the Spaniard to drop deeper to find possession.
Virgil van Dijk – 5/10
The Dutch defender has enjoyed better outings this season and had to constantly be on his toes to prevent Chelsea scoring even more. Van Dijk was not nearly as imposing at the back as he has been in recent weeks.
Ryan Bertrand – 5/10
The former Chelsea man whipped in a few good crosses from the left but it reaped no reward. He returned to the starting XI after an injury lay-off and lasted little over 75 minutes before being replaced.
Oriol Romeu – 5/10
Another former Chelsea employee, Romeu struggled against the likes of Matic and Kante in midfield, although he was responsible for a few good challenges to break up Chelsea’s attacks.
Jordy Clasie – 4/10
Clasie struggled to get into the pace of the game and rarely had much time on the ball. He was replaced in the second half as Southampton looked to move further up the pitch.
Steven Davis – 6/10
The Northern Irishman passed the ball well in the middle of the park but struggled to get past the midfield duo of Matic and Kante. He had a good chance in the second half that was deflected over the crossbar.
Dusan Tadic – 4/10
It was a disappointing day for the Serbian winger who had no joy on the flanks. He struggled against Chelsea’s organised formation and did couldn’t even provide a decent cross into the box. He was replaced early in the second half.
Nathan Redmond – 5/10
Redmond was another player to struggle as Chelsea held strong in defence, although he worked hard to try and create as much as possible.
Charlie Austin – 5/10
The striker was left isolated for most of the game but was arguably Southampton’s most dangerous threat. He even managed to put the ball in the back of the net, only to be ruled out for offside.
Substitutes
Sofiane Boufal – 5/10
Southampton’s record signing came off the bench in the second half but did not have any real impact on the game.
Sam McQueen – N/A
The youngster came on for Bertrand for the final 15 minutes but was barely involved.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – N/A
He was brought on too late to make any meaningful contribution to the game.
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois – 6/10
The Belgian stopper had a few saves to make in the course of the game but was not really tested by the Saints attackers.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6/10
A typical solid performance in defence from the Spaniard, who is adapted very well to a centre-back role. He didn’t put a foot wrong and will be glad to record yet another clean sheet.
Gary Cahill – 6/10
The Englishman has had tougher days in a Chelsea shirt but this wasn’t one of them. He didn’t have much work to do apart from heading clear a few crosses.
David Luiz – 7/10
The Brazilian has been instrumental in Chelsea recording four back-to-back clean sheets in the league. He sat in the centre of the back three and cut out any threat that came into the Chelsea box.
Victor Moses – 8/10
One of Chelsea’s brightest sparks in recent weeks, Moses put in an excellent performance both in defence and in attack. He shielded the right-flank with solidity and moved up with intent. The Nigerian also had a couple of strong efforts which were parried by Forster.
Marcos Alonso – 7.5/10
The Spaniard has been a revelation for Conte and has quickly cemented his role in the left wing-back position. Like Moses, he too moved forward with positive intent while also sticking to his defensive duties.
N’Golo Kante – 7/10
The Frenchman made a number of good interceptions in midfield to prevent the Saints from breaking through. He also passed the ball well and supported in attack whenever he could.
Nemanja Matic – 8/10
It was often too easy for Matic to move around in midfield with no Southampton player attempting to close him down. Enjoyed a bit more freedom going forward but was mindful of any danger that the opposition posed.
Pedro – 6/10
The Spaniard showed great pace when Chelsea were on the counter-attack. Although, he could not conjure up any meaningful threat to the Southampton goal.
Eden Hazard – 9/10
The Belgian opened the scoring with a fine finish that went through the goalkeeper’s legs and grabbed the assist for Costa’s goal as well. It was another superb performance from Hazard who has now scored in three consecutive league games for the first time since joining Chelsea.
He also netted his fifth of the campaign, which is one more than he managed in the whole of last season.
Diego Costa – 7/10
Costa scored his eighth league goal of the season with a fantastic curling shot from the edge of the penalty area. The Spaniard should have had more goals to his name after he was guilty of letting a number of good opportunities slip. He also worked hard when to track back when his team were on the back foot.
Substitutes
Willian – N/A
Replaced Pedro for the final 10 minutes or so to help Chelsea see out the three points.
Branislav Ivanovic – N/A
Ivanovic returned from injury to replace Moses for the final few minutes.
Michy Batshuayi – N/A
The Belgian came on for Costa to provide fresh legs as Chelsea looked to close the game
