Southampton 2-1 Chelsea: Adam Armstrong hits first-half winner to inflict Blues’ second defeat of season

Southampton accomplished a shocking first-half turnaround to inflict Chelsea’s second defeat of the season with a deserved 2-1 victory.

Thomas Tuchel’s aspect at the moment are 5 factors behind leaders Arsenal having taken solely seven factors from their first 5 matches regardless of their night on the south coast beginning completely when Raheem Sterling netted his third purpose of the season from shut vary.

But courageous Southampton fought again by gifted teenager Romeo Lavia, who blasted dwelling from the sting of the realm to raise a subdued St Mary’s.

Saints by no means appeared again from there with Adam Armstrong firing dwelling the winner in first-half added time to depart Ralph Hasenhuttl’s aspect above the Blues.

How tremendous Saints marched on

Chelsea have delivered a combined bag of performances to date this season and it was evident within the first-half alone. For 20 minutes they had been sharp, resilient and deservedly went forward by Sterling as he swivelled to place dwelling Mason Mount’s pull-back.

Southampton wanted a spark and spectacular 18-year-old midfielder Lavia delivered it. James Ward-Prowse’s nook was poorly cleared by Cesar Azpilicueta to the sting of the field the place the Belgian took a contact earlier than hammering a piledriver into the nook which flashed previous Edouard Mendy.

Saints had been on high from then on, capitalising on their strain in added time when Romain Perraud neatly picked out Armstrong within the field, who managed sharply earlier than firing into the nook by way of a slight deflection off the left leg of Kalidou Koulibaly.

Chelsea had been angered by Che Adams fouling Jorginho on the half-time whistle and flicking the ball into his face but could not flip it into momentum after the break.

Instead, Southampton had been twice denied by sensible goalline clearances. The first noticed Mohamed Elyounoussi’s header hit the shoulder of Marc Cucurella earlier than Thiago Silva flicked Mohammed Salisu’s effort away. The solely downer on the house aspect’s night was when Lavia hobbled off injured after 60 minutes.

Southampton bought higher and higher whereas Chelsea toiled, unable to assemble any momentum, clearly lacking the raiding Reece James, and slipping to a different worrying defeat.

Tuchel: We should not robust sufficient

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel: “We are not tough enough to win these matches away. It was the same story like in Leeds, there we thought the problem was we didn’t score in the first 25 minutes, and then they pushed us off-balance in two minutes with two goals and we could not find any answers.

“Today we scored so every part was okay however one set piece once more, one sloppy defending once more, we had been off-balance and we didn’t react to it. We had been fortunate to not concede a 3rd purpose in the beginning of the second half. We weren’t robust sufficient as a crew to react or push it over the road for us.

“Soft defending. What stops that is pure mentality, stop it with defending mentality. There is no superiority for the opponent, there is no need to give shots away, just toughen up as a team and show a different mentality.

“I do not like to speak about it usually since you can’t show it with knowledge or tactical place however it’s like this. Both objectives are low-cost, mushy objectives and shouldn’t occur for those who count on to win a match within the night at an away stadium.”

Hasenhuttl: I’m proud of performance

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl: “On Saturday we spoke about how good we had been and did not get factors, and right now we performed the identical and the one distinction was we scored twice.

“To turn things around like this against Chelsea doesn’t happen very often but I’m even more proud of putting such a performance on the pitch after an intense game on Saturday.

“I believe it was implausible to look at and the ambiance within the floor was sensational, it carried us over the past quarter-hour after we had been typically beneath strain.

“Overall, everything is very positive, the only disappointment is the injury to Romeo.”

Analysis: Tuchel beneath strain as Chelsea stutter

Chelsea’s season goes within the different route proper now. They had been seconds away from following up a gap weekend win over Everton with a deserved victory towards Tottenham however Harry Kane’s late purpose has proved the prelude to a dramatic shift in temper.

After being properly crushed at Leeds, Thomas Tuchel’s aspect have misplaced their subsequent away sport too with the gamers going through accusations of being weak by their very own supervisor. “Just toughen up as a team and show a different mentality,” he stated of the defeat at St Mary’s.

Easier stated than achieved, it appears. For a lot of Tuchel’s time at Chelsea, his crew appeared strong however no extra. No clear sheet in 4 tells solely a part of the story. They look so open proper now. The change to a again 4 doesn’t appear to go well with them and the accidents are mounting.

That is a short-term difficulty and the approaching arrival of Wesley Fofana ought to assist too. But with the assault little higher – solely Raheem Sterling has discovered the online within the final three video games – and a niche to their rivals already opening up, Tuchel is beneath some strain now.
Adam Bate

Analysis: Southampton signings justifying technique

Twenty minutes to go in Southampton’s first dwelling sport of the season and so they had been two objectives all the way down to Leeds United having additionally misplaced 4-1 at Tottenham on the opening weekend. Many felt that Ralph Hasenhuttl was a person on the brink at that time.

But not solely did Saints salvage some extent that day however they’ve gone on to take six factors from 9 in three video games towards final season’s high eight. Their come-from-behind 2-1 win towards Chelsea at St Mary’s was probably the most spectacular efficiency but.

What will fulfill supporters most is that a number of the new signings have settled so shortly and seem like implausible acquisitions already. Romeo Lavia went off injured on Tuesday however solely after scoring a shocking equaliser to underline his high quality begin on the membership.

If there may be anybody who has outshone the 18-year-old Lavia, it’s Armel Bella-Kotchap. He is a 20-year-old centre-back signed from Bochum and appears to have critical potential. The pair value lower than £20m in the summertime and it’s simple to see that worth rising and rising.

Southampton’s technique is concentrated on creating youthful expertise however the worry was that they is likely to be courting relegation in doing so. After that alarming begin, any issues are receding. Hasenhuttl has a crew filled with expertise. It is enjoyable once more at St Mary’s.
Adam Bate

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Opta stats – Saints finish Chelsea hoodoo

• Southampton have gained their first Premier League dwelling win towards Chelsea since March 2013 (additionally 2-1), ending a run of 9 such video games with no victory towards the Blues.
• Chelsea have misplaced consecutive Premier League away video games for the primary time beneath Thomas Tuchel, with the German final shedding two in a row on the highway in a league sport in August 2019, with PSG.
• Chelsea have misplaced a minimum of two of their first 5 video games to a Premier League season (W2 D1 L2) for simply the second time this century, having misplaced three of their opening 5 in 2015-16 (W1 D1) – a marketing campaign wherein they completed in tenth place.
• Since his Premier League debut in March 2012, Raheem Sterling has been straight concerned in 169 objectives (112 objectives, 57 assists), solely three gamers have been concerned in additional in that point (Harry Kane – 230, Sergio Aguero – 209 and Jamie Vardy – 175).

What’s subsequent?

Southampton journey to Wolves as their fixtures turn into extra beneficial with Brentford, Aston Villa and Everton to observe.

Chelsea host West Ham in a Premier League London derby on Saturday at 3pm.