Southampton 1-5 Chelsea: Five-star Blues continue their title challenge as Cole Palmer and Co run riot in Saints hammering

 When your captain is red carded for hair-pulling, as Southampton’s Jack Stephens was here for yanking on Marc Cucurella’s locks, you know your capacity for implosion is high.

Southampton assisted Chelsea time and again here, from that dismissal to the clumsy ways in which the Premier League’s bottom-dwellers carried on conceding. Take Christopher Nkunku’s goal, for example, which came after Noni Madueke stole possession after Joe Lumley’s pass.

Lumley is the Saints’ fourth-choice goalkeeper, with Aaron Ramsdale and Gavin Bazunu both injured and Alex McCarthy still overcoming a knee knock, but he was told to do his best impression of someone can play out of the back. 

Suffice to say, that was a mistake, as Madueke won the ball, set up Nkunku, and Chelsea secured a lead they would never lose.

Even the St Mary’s DJ was playing Naive by The Kooks at half-time as if to prove a point. Worse still, this was Stephens’ second red of the season, so he will miss four matches this time, one more than the customary three as Southampton stare at a harsh winter.

The away supporters treated this like a big party. By the end, they were singing Enzo Maresca’s name on repeat. Then came another chant: ‘We’ve got our Chelsea back.’

Cole Palmer scored Chelsea’s fourth goal as the Blues claimed a dominant win on the south coast

Jack Stephens was sent off for yanking Marc Cucurella by the hair late in the second half

Maresca made seven changes for this trip to the South Coast, including handing a first Premier League start to Filip Jorgensen, the 22-year-old who produced the odd stupendous save.

It took Chelsea seven minutes to take the lead as Enzo Fernandez’s corner was nodded in easily by Axel Disasi with Lumley nowhere near. It became 1-1 after 11 minutes when Fernandez was weakly turned in the box by Kyle Walker-Peters, who cut the ball back for Joe Aribo to tap in.

Chelsea regained their lead in the 17th minute as Lumley played into their pressing trap, with Madueke stealing possession before assisting Nkunku.

Tosin Adarabioyo so nearly got in on the goals – he struck the woodwork twice here – but it became 3-1 after 34 minutes when Madueke charged at Ryan Manning, a simple shimmy to the left allowing him enough room to find the far corner.

Southampton’s night worsened before half-time when the cameras caught Stephens grabbing a handful of Cucurella’s hair. Referee Tony Harrington produced a straight red after being sent to his pitch-side monitor by VAR Matt Donohue.

Madueke got one goal here but could, and possibly should, have scored five here. Instead it was Palmer who bagged Chelsea’s fourth of the night in the 76th minute via a tap-in. Substitute Jadon Sancho then secured their fifth after 87 minutes as St Mary’s emptied in embarrassment.