Report: Depleted Saints suffer defeat to Chelsea

Despite Joe Aribo’s equaliser shortly after Axel Disasi’s early opener, Saints lost control of the game before half time, as further goals from Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke were followed by a straight red card for Jack Stephens, leaving Russell Martin’s team two goals behind and needing to navigate the majority of the match with ten players.

They limited the damage for a fair amount of time after that point, but Cole Palmer and substitute Jadon Sancho added further goals in the closing stages of the game.

Saints boss Martin made four changes to the team that drew 1-1 at Brighton last Friday, three of which were enforced, after Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Flynn Downes and Tyler Dibling each picked up their fifth bookings of the season during that game and had to serve one-match bans.

The additional change saw Yuki Sugawara drop to the bench, as Aribo, Ryan Fraser, James Bree and Nathan Wood – who was making his Premier League debut – came into the team.

Nathan Wood was making his Premier League debut (Photo: Matt Watson)

On the subs’ bench, 19-year-old midfielder Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh also made a Premier League squad for the first time, following on from his senior debut in the League Cup victory at Cardiff earlier in the season.

With Martin already missing Aaron Ramsdale, Jan Bednarek, Adam Lallana and Paul Onuachu through injury, on top of a couple of longer-term absentees, as well as being without midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu – who was unavailable against his parent club – a sizeable task against a Chelsea team that began the night third in the table was being made that much harder.

Yet it was Saints who started best and created a big opportunity within two minutes, as Kyle Walker-Peters was played into space in the left side of the area. His low cross was deflected off a Chelsea defender and back into the path of Aribo, who was in a brilliant position about ten yards out, but his shot was saved on the line by Blues keeper Filip Jørgensen.

The offside flag did subsequently go up against Walker-Peters for when he received the ball, but replays suggested that, had it gone in, VAR may well have ruled him to be on.

Unfortunately for Saints, they never got to find out, and just five minutes later they were trailing through a frustratingly simple goal from Chelsea.

The Blues had been under pressure in the early stages, but won a corner that Enzo Fernández swung into the near post, where Disasi managed to nod in from a yard or two out.

Saints keeper Joe Lumley claimed he had been impeded in getting to the ball by Marc Cucurella, but his calls for a foul did not receive any response from referee Tony Harrington or VAR.

Still, Saints responded almost immediately, as they equalised in the 11th minute.

Again it was the Walker-Peters to Aribo link up that did it. Cameron Archer’s pass had picked out the run of Walker-Peters towards the byline, and the full-back’s clever spin resulted in a nutmeg of the back-tracking Fernández, opening up space for him to cut it back to Aribo, who this time made no mistake with a cool, left-footed finish.

Joe Aribo celebrates making it 1-1 (Photo: Matt Watson)

Saints were looking strong at this point and a real threat to Chelsea, but they were unable to kick on and fell behind again as they conceded a soft goal on 17 minutes.

There looked to be little to worry about as Wood played the ball back to Lumley just outside his box, but his subsequent pass forwards, towards Walker-Peters, was stolen by the lightning quick Madueke, who then slipped a pass to Nkunku, who had the simple task of tapping into an empty net from 18 yards.

From there, it could quickly have got much worse for Saints.

First, Lumley had to save from Madueke one-on-one, after he had forced his way through on an angle, before João Félix dragged an effort narrowly wide from 18 yards.

Lumley then had to make a stunning save to deny Palmer, tipping his shot onto the post after he had been sent clean through by a raking, diagonal ball from João Félix. And, from the resulting corner, Tosin Adarabioyo, flicked a header off the bar and over.

It felt as though a third goal was coming, and it did arrive on 34 minutes, as Madueke fired a low strike from inside the area into the far corner.

After Nkunku then headed just over, Saints’ night got even worse with the dismissal of captain Stephens, who was shown a straight red card for violent conduct after referee Harrington was sent to the pitchside monitor to review the defender pulling the hair of Cucurella.

Jack Stephens reacts to being sent off (Photo: Matt Watson)

That was to be the last of the setbacks in the first half, although Saints were fortunate not to suffer another one within moments of the second beginning, as Palmer’s cross to the back post found João Félix all alone on the corner of the six yard box, but fortunately his header towards the far corner went wide.

It was a sign of things to come, though, as Chelsea continued to attack.

On 53 minutes, Adarabioyo thumped a shot from six yards against the post, and then a minute later it would have been four but for Ryan Manning somehow making a last-ditch intervention to stop Madueke firing into an empty net after Lumley had kept out a Palmer shot.

Still, though, when Saints did get the ball forward they carried a threat, and they perhaps should have made it 3-2 when a fine move ended with Aribo finding Mateus Fernandes in space around the penalty spot, only for his low shot to be saved by the legs of Jørgensen.

Martin’s first substitutions came shortly after the hour mark, as Ben Brereton Díaz and Kamaldeen came on for Adam Armstrong and Fraser.

Saints were still posing a threat when they could, but so too were Chelsea, and Lumley had to make a good stop with his right foot on 65 minutes to deny Madueke his second of the night, before saving from him again at close range four minutes later.

Archer then gave way to Sugawara, as Martin made a further change, before the visitors did get their fourth goal.

It came on 77 minutes, as Fernández played through Nkunku, who twisted and got a shot away past Lumley, with Palmer applying the finishing touch as the ball rolled slowly towards goal.

And there was time for one more from Chelsea, as Sancho fired home a fifth in the 87th minute to complete the scoring.

Southampton: Lumley, Bree (Edwards 78), Stephens (captain), Wood, Walker-Peters, Manning, Fernandes (Taylor 79), Aribo, Fraser (Kamaldeen 62), Armstrong (Brereton Díaz 62), Archer (Sugawara 72).

Unused substitutes: McCarthy, Cornet, O’Brien-Whitmarsh, Amo-Ameyaw.

Goals: Aribo (11’).

Yellow cards: Armstrong.

Red cards: Stephens.

Chelsea: Jørgensen, Gusto, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Cucurella (Veiga 79), Fernández (captain), Caicedo, Madueke (Sancho 72), Palmer (Dewsbury-Hall 79), João Félix, Nkunku.

Unused substitutes: Sánchez, Badiashile, Colwill, Neto, Jackson, Lavia.

Goals: Disasi (7’), Nkunku (17’), Madueke (34’), Palmer (77’), Sancho (87').

Referee: Tony Harrington.

Attendance: 31,193.