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Chelsea 1-0 Southampton: Match takeaways

By Nikos Lemanis

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 16: N'Golo Kantea of Chelsea nd Oriol Romeu of Southampton battle for posession during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on December 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 16: N'Golo Kantea of Chelsea nd Oriol Romeu of Southampton battle for posession during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on December 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
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HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 12: Chelsea manager Antonio Conte during the Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and Chelsea at John Smith’s Stadium on December 12, 2017 in Huddersfield, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 12: Chelsea manager Antonio Conte during the Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and Chelsea at John Smith’s Stadium on December 12, 2017 in Huddersfield, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) /

Conte’s worry was misplaced

Before the match Chelsea manager Antonio Conte was quoted as saying he expected to “suffer” against Southampton on Saturday afternoon. He was of course vocalising the possibility of a Saints backlash following their midweek drubbing. And to pick up points at Stamford Bridge would have been the perfect response to the Leicester result.

But Conte’s concerns turned out to be largely unwarranted. Southampton did started brightly with ten minutes of high intensity football. But aside from this and a late push for an equaliser, they rarely troubled the champions.

The team certainly performed better than the eleven who started on Wednesday. But that really isn’t saying a lot, and once they settled Chelsea didn’t struggle to create chances.

Saints can count themselves lucky that Conte decided not to rush Alvaro Morata back from injury. The Chelsea manager started the Spaniard on the bench, only introducing him with 15 minutes remaining. And the lack of a gifted Chelsea finisher throughout was the only barrier to a wider score margin.