Chelsea 1-0 Southampton: Match recap

The Saints were subjected to their second loss in less than a week after Marcos Alonso’s first-half strike gifted Chelsea all three points this Saturday afternoon.

Southampton’s four-game resurgence is well and truly a thing of the past, with no signs of determination present against Chelsea this afternoon.

The Saints were once again toothless going forward and in the end it cost them – Chelsea finished as deserved victors after producing an plethora of chances across both halves.

Fraser Forster was called into action on more than one occasion but it was eventually poor goalkeeping on his part that saw the Blues take their deserved lead. After Maya Yoshida brought down Eden Hazard 25 yards from goal, Marcos Alonso hit a low, whipping free-kick around the wall which Forster in goal failed to get across for.

With 18 league games played Pellegrino still only has four wins to his name since taking the reigns at Southampton, with the side currently in 12th.

However, the drop zone is but four points away, and with tough fixtures to come, the Saints could be sleepwalking into a relegation battle.

After the 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Leicester in mid-week, Southampton’s fans were looking for a reaction from a heavily-rotated Saints side that saw Manolo Gabbiadini, Jack Stephens and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg come back into the team among others.

More from Saints Marching

• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 2: Arrivals
• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
• Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
• A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse

Whilst the Saints did put in a valiant, respectable performance, there was little on offer going forward, with Pellegrino’s solution in the second half to replace one striker with another, rather than bring a second on to create more goal-scoring opportunities.

It was hardly like the home side were failing to create themselves either. Despite not starting Alvaro Morata, the Blues had an array of chances, with Hazard, Fabregas and Bakayoko all having bites at the cherry.

And the problems may not end their for the away side, with both full-backs seemingly suffering injuries across the duration. Cedric was forced off early after a collision with an advertising board, whilst Ryan Bertrand suffered a hamstring niggle late in the game.

Next up for the Saints is a home game against promoted side Huddersfield – it’ll be the Saints’ first reverse fixture of the season, having previously drew match in Yorkshire 0-0.