Southampton earned an important point away to Chelsea, holding on to a nil-nil draw, while showing a passion and fight to stave off relegation.
The Saints defended for a large portion of the game, taking only 28% of possession away from Chelsea. However, their defence held incredibly strong with a three centre-back formation of Jan Bednarek, Maya Yoshida, and Jannik Vestergaard leading the way. Young Yan Valery performed admirably, just 19 years of age, and up against Eden Hazard. While Cedric Soares was back in the side, and showed real intensity after missing the last five games.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was suspended and Mario Lemina was left out of the squad entirely, but Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse got the job done. Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl showed faith in the depth of his squad, regardless of fans calling for consistency.
The draw with Chelsea marks five points taken from top-six clubs this season, and the first taken off Chelsea in eight head-to-head matches.
Unfortunately for Southampton, they will still find themselves in the relegation zone as Burnley took a six-pointer from Huddersfield on Wednesday night. However, the draw will undoubtedly boost the team’s confidence heading into an FA Cup away trip to Derby on Saturday.
There were a lot of strong performances from Saints at Stamford Bridge, but you might be surprised to see who got our highest rating…