Blues produce some sexy football and demonstrate the joy of six as they thrash Southampton at St Mary’s

By Paul Lagan at St Mary’s Stadium

Southampton 0 v  Chelsea 6

Chelsea could have done with this performance and result on Wednesday as they humiliated Southampton 6-0 at St Mary’s Stadium this afternoon.

After a horror week where the Blues were thrashed 4-1 at home in the league to Brentford at the weekend and the hammered 3-1, again at home, to Real Madrid in the Champions League, they turned on the style and put on their scoring boots against albeit a chronically, sometimes comically incapable Saints.

Even Timo Werner, who scored twice and rattled the woodwork three times was having a field day on the South Coast.

Marcos Alonso opened the scoring early on, and from then on it was a case of who would score – up first was Mason Mount, quickly followed by Werner, a Kai Havertz tap-in, Werner again, leaving Mount to get his brace to finish off the rout.

He was denied his hat-trick, not by Fraser Forster, but head coach Thomas Tuchel who substituted him later on.

With Chelsea surviving a potential penalty on three minutes, they went straight up the other end where Werner raced clear on the right. He edged to the penalty area when he drove a low, right-footer across Forster but the ball pinged off his right post and was cleared.

The German then saw his header crash off the crossbar, as Chelsea inspired by Mount, set  up the forward.

He neeed now only to hit the left post to create an unwanted hat-trick.

However on eight minutes , Alonso showed Werner how it’s done. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, playing right wing back clipped the ball into the middle of the Saints penalty area where Mount trapped the ball before playing a deft back heel to in-running Alonso. The Spain left wing-back then powered home from close range to put the visitors 1-0 up.

Number two came on 16 minutes when another quick break saw a Loftus-Cheek pass clipped out of the Saints penalty area. But Mount picked up the loose effort, took one touch, before dispatching a fierce right-footer through a melee of players and past Forster and into his net.

Forster then denied Werner, not the woodwork, parrying out a goal-bound close range shot, as Chelsea looked set on a goal-scoring spree.

But he would not be denied – and on 22 minutes a terrible back-header by James Ward-Prowse exposed the whole of the Saints half.

Werner and Jan Bednarek, then chased after the ball, with only one winner as Werner outpaced the centre-back.

With a quick dummy shake of his hips, he put off Forster enough to to send the goalie to the ground, he rounded him and caressed a left footer into the back of the empty net to make it 3-0 to the west Londoners. 

Werner’s unwanted hat-trick came to pass on 30 minutes when after seeing him dispossess Mohammed Salisu on the edge of the Saints penalty area. continued his run, jinked his way across and past four players before crashing the ball against, yep, right post.

Thankfully for him the ball bounced into the path of Havertz who tucked home number four.

Head coach Thomas Tuchel brought on Christian Pulisic at half-time, Havertz made way.

Three minutes into the restart and the fifth goal fell to the Blues.

N’Golo Kante found himself in an advanced position, and he tried an audacious left-footer chip over Forster.

That failed but the parried ball dropped to Werner who simply rolled the ball into the back of the net.

Mount tucked home number six on 54 minutes after Forster stopped two goal-bound efforts after Alonso’s sent the ball into the six-yard box.

Thiago Silva and Mount were replaced by Reece James and Hakim Ziyech as Tuchel gave some minutes on the pitch to the substitutes.

The game petered out with a home and away fan trying to liven up the home side by running into the pitch.

Very much like the hime team’s performance, their effort was a damp squib.

The remaining minutes drifted on without much threat to either goal.

Chelsea have rehabilitated themselves somewhat, but the Saints players must now, after six games without a win, hope the season comes to an early conclusion, because they appear ready to hit the beach.

 

Teams: Chelsea, Mendy, Rudiger, Alonso, Christensen, Silva Kante, Kovacic, Werner, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, Havertz

Subs, Kepa, Jorginho, Pulisic, Chalobah, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, James, Sarr

Southampton, Forster, Walker-Peters, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Adam, Armstrong, Liveramento, Salisu, Elyounoussi, Bednarek.

Subs, Caballero, Stephens, Redmond, Perrault, Smallbone, Tella, Diallo, Walcott, Valery

Referee: Kevin Friend