Chelsea 0-2 Southampton: Saints battle to superb Boxing Day win over Blues

Southampton battled to a superb 2-0 win over Chelsea on Thursday and climbed up to 14th place in the Premier League as a result.

Goals from Michael Obafemi and Nathan Redmond proved enough for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side whilst Chelsea struggled to break down the visitors’ stubborn defence.

The early stages of the game saw little in terms of shots on goal for either side as Saints sat deep and looked to spring on the counter attack whilst Chelsea struggled to find the magical final ball.

After 34 minutes that had seen the Stamford Bridge crowd frustrated, Saints claimed the all important first goal thanks to a stunning effort from Michael Obafemi.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg snapped a pass into the striker inside the Chelsea half and he did the rest – turning Fikayo Tomori and shifting the ball onto his left foot before bending a beautiful strike into the top corner.

It had been a similar type of display to the one that Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side had put in at Arsenal, but the real test would be keeping that going in the second half in order to secure more vital points.

Obafemi’s goal had been the only real shot on target from both sides in the first period but two real chances came in the opening stages of the second.

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First, Tammy Abraham really ought to have done better when he turned his marker and fired into the side-netting when positioned well, whilst Che Adams couldn’t quite get his toe to a ball across goal from Nathan Redmond following another quick counter.

Nathan Redmond then had a golden chance to double the visitors’ lead when he was played through one-on-one but fired straight at the goalkeeper and lacked conviction in his shot.

However, he would bag the all important second goal as Saints produced a flowing move to further kill off any chance of a Chelsea comeback.

The passing moved from left to right and back again before Stuart Armstrong poked the ball across the area to where Redmond lifted it over the advancing Kepa Arrizabalaga – no less than their structured and determined performance deserved.

The final stages of the match played out in much the same way as the rest of the game had as Saints repelled attacks from the hosts with relative ease and Alex McCarthy stayed alert until the final whistle.

This 2-0 win lifts Saints up to 14th in the Premier League table and has put other teams rather than points between them and the bottom three with Aston Villa beating Norwich too.

Chelsea team

Arrizabalaga, Rudiger, Tomori, Zouma (Mount 45), Azpilicueta, Emerson, Kante, Jorginho, Willian (Pedro 84), Hudson-Odoi (Pulisic 67), Abraham

Subs not used: Barkley, Batshuayi, Caballero, Christensen

Saints team

McCarthy, Cedric, Bednarek, Stephens, Bertrand, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Redmond, Armstrong (Romeu 86), Obafemi (Ings 69), Adams (Boufal 80)

Subs not used: Gunn, Vestergaard, Danso, Yoshida