Chelsea vs Southampton match report: Crisis at Stamford Bridge as Jose Mourinho's Blues are well beaten by Saints

Chelsea 1 Southampton 3

Stamford Bridge

Saturday 03 October 2015 19:18 BST

The season is not yet a quarter old, summer is still hanging on, but already Chelsea look set for the worst title defence since Leeds United in the Premier League’s debut season 23 years ago. Chelsea look struck in a crisis of confidence compounded by key players ageing and exacerbated by Jose Mourinho’s capricious management.

John Terry came in for his 677th appearance for the club, but only his second since August.

Terry’s name was lustily cheered when announced.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

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1/22Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

CHELSEA: Asmir Begovic - 5 out of 10

Aside from one nervy moment early on when trying to deal with Azpilicueta’s back-pass, the goalkeeper made several saves to keep his side in the match in the first half, but then conceded twice in the second period.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Branislav Ivanovic - 4 out of 10

Was never really troubled by Tadic or Mane as he had been in previous weeks by the likes of Porto’s Brahimi, Crystal Palace’s Bolasie or Swansea’s Montero in the first half, but was lucky when Tadic then outran him minutes after the break only to see his low drive to Mane go wide. However, he fell under more and more pressure by the Southampton winger and could not contain him as the game progressed.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Gary Cahill - 4 out of 10

Looked much more assured playing alongside Terry and was not afraid of coming out to clear the ball whenever Southampton pushed forwards but was completely outmuscled by Pelle when the striker set up Davis for the equaliser.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

John Terry - 4 out of 10

Terry: 4 Was handed a start for the first time in weeks and the Chelsea captain did not disappoint in the first period as he commanded his back line well while never really being tested one-on-one. However, that all changed in the second half when he failed to stop Mane racing into the area to score and then did not do enough to marshal his back line for Southampton’s second and third goals.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Cesar Azpilicueta - 6 out of 10

Did not have any real problems down the left flank and kept Tadic quiet early on but should have done better for Pelle’s effort after leaving him with acres of space to get his shot in. Ramires: 5 Was lucky not to have given away a first-half penalty for his tackle on Mane inside the area although it did look like a spot-kick. Was hauled off at half time after picking up a booking for a foul on the Southampton winger.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Ramires - 3 out of 10

Handed the start after his heroics at Newcastle but the Brazilian was awful in the first half and was hauled off by Jose Mourinho at half-time for Nemanja Matic.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Cesc Fabregas - 4 out of 10

Linked up well with the likes of Hazard and Oscar to help build up Chelsea’s attacks in the first half, but completely lost Davis for the opener. As in previous games, the midfielder became more and more of a bystander as the game wore on.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Willian - 8 out of 10

Scored another superb free-kick to hand the Blues the lead although he could have pressurised Davis more ahead of the equaliser. Was brought off for Pedro just after the hour mark after seeing his impact on the game wane.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Oscar - 5 out of 10

Looked more positive in attack alongside Hazard and tested Stekelenburg with a shot in the first period but could not inspire Chelsea to another goal when they fell behind.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Eden Hazard - 4 out of 10

Won the foul that Willian scored the opener from and overall, looked more dangerous in attack, but clumsily gave the ball away that ended in Pelle scoring and giving Southampton a 3-1 lead.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Radamel Falcao - 5 out of 10

Looked full of energy but could not get the better of van Dijk or Fonte in the first half but should have got a penalty following Stekeleburg’s foul on him after the break.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

SOUTHAMPTON: Maarten Stekelenburg - 5 out of 10

Couldn’t do too much about Willian’s goal but did well otherwise when Oscar tested him with a powerful shot in the first half. However, he was then fortunate to have not given away a penalty after bringing down Falcao in the box.

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Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Cedric Soares - 7 out of 10

The right-back was put under constant pressure from Hazard but he did not shy away from his defensive duties. A good performance from the defender.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Virgil van Dijk - 7 out of 10

The towering centre-half kept Falcao quiet for much of the match and defended well when under pressure.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Jose Fonte - 7 out of 10

The defender made two key clearances in the first half with the score goalless after dealing with Hazard and Falcao and played well alongside van Dijk.

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Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Ryan Bertand - 7 out of 10

The defender enjoyed a good return to his former club after keeping Willian quiet following the Brazilian’s first-half goal and defending really well as Chelsea began to look for the equaliser after going behind.

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Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Oriol Romeu - 4 out of 10

It was his tackle on Hazard that gave away the free kick from which Willian scored from. He never really had a grip on the Belgian and, after being cautioned in the first half, was replaced by Ward-Prowse.

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Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Victor Wanyama - 6 out of 10

Played out the first half struggling to contain Chelsea’s creative players but grew into the game.

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Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Sadio Mane - 8 out of 10

Didn’t really prove a threat in the first half, but after the break proved dangerous after first narrowly firing a shot wide before he gave the Saints the lead with his drive past Begovic and then setting up Pelle for the visitors’ third.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Steven Davis - 8 out of 10

Scored Southampton’s equaliser minutes before the break with his fine shot and regularly got involved in the visitors’ attacks.

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Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Dusan Tadic - 7 out of 10

Did not prove a threat in the first half but after outrunning Ivanovic in the second period to set up Mane for a good chance, started to cause the Chelsea right-back all sorts of problems.

Chelsea vs Southampton player ratings

Graziano Pelle - 9 out of 10

Got two assists at Stamford Bridge, first when he used his power to get the better of Cahill and chest the ball down into the path of David for the opener before his low drive found Mane for Southampton’s second goal. The striker then netted his side’s third goal with a fine low drive past Begovic.

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In attack Radamel Falcao replaced the suspended Diego Costa while Oscar and Eden Hazard returned in place of Pedro and John Obi Mikel. Nemanja Matic was again on the bench. For all their early-season stuttering, Chelsea are still the champions and Ronald Koeman recalled one of their old boys to stiffen his midfield. In the only change from the Southampton team that beat Swansea 3-1 a week ago Oriel Romeu, whose career at Stamford Bridge fell away sharply, replaced James Ward-Prowse.

Romeu was booked just nine minutes later for tripping Hazard, his fourth caution in six Premier League games.

It proved an expensive foul. Willian, who has become a dead-ball dead-eye this season, did it again, deceiving Maarten Stekelenburg with a curler that went in off the post.

It was all going well for Chelsea when Willian opened the scoring (Reuters)

Steven Davis equalises for the Saints (Reuters)

At the other end, Branislav Ivanovic was fortunate not to concede a penalty for virtually tugging Virgil Van Dijk’s shirt off at a corner. Few referees are brave enough to give spot-kicks in such circumstances; Robert Madley is evidently not one of them. That suspicion deepened when he failed to give a penalty when Saido Mané was tripped by Ramires, then booked Mané for simulation after Ivanovic upended him outside the box.

Those incidents highlighted Saints’ growing pressure and, after Asmir Begovic denied Ryan Bertrand, he was beaten by Davis’ 43rd-minute volley, Graziano Pelle having held off Gary Cahill to feed the scorer.

Whatever Mourinho (pictured) said to his players at half-time went unheeded as Southampton created a series of chances immediately after the break, with Mané the most wasteful and Ivanovic again Chelsea’s weak link as he was bamboozled by Dusan Tadic.

Sadio Mane puts Southampton into a shock lead (Reuters)

Chelsea briefly responded and a sharp move ended with Falcao booked for throwing himself down after touching the ball around Stekelenburg.

It was a brief flash of the old Chelsea and on the hour Saints made their dominance pay. Cahill lost possession, Pelle fed Mané, who turned Terry inside out and squeezed his shot past Begovic.

Graziano Pelle fires home the third (Getty Images)

Mourinho called up his cavalry in the shape of multiple medal-winner Pedro. Loïc Rémy followed, but he was waiting on the touchline when Saints capitalised on a slack Hazard pass to launch a counter-attack that concluded with Pelle scoring from Mané’s pass. Matic, on for only 28 minutes, was withdrawn. He is the new scapegoat.

Tadic wasted a chance to make it four after Mané embarrassed Cahill before boos rang out at the final whistle.

Chelsea: (4-2-3-1) Begovic; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Ramires (Matic, h-t; Rémy, 73); Willian (Pedro, 64), Oscar, Hazard; Falcao.

Southampton: (4-4-1-1) Stekelenburg; Soares, Fonte, Van Dijk, Bertrand; Davis, Romeu (Ward-Prowse, h-t), Wanyama, Tadic (Rodriguez, 78); Mané (Yoshida, 90); Pelle.

Referee: Robert Madley

Man of the match: Mané (Southampton)

Match rating: 8/10

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