Manager Enzo Maresca has made a number of changes to his side for Chelsea's midweek games this season.
Despite playing in the Premier League, the Italian coach still dared to make 7 changes compared to the match at the weekend. Despite that, The Blues brought a sublime match against Southampton.
In the 7th minute, Axel Disasi headed Chelsea in from Enzo Fernandez's corner. But just a few minutes later, from Kyle Walker-Peters' assist, Joe Aribo scored the equalizer for the home team.
However, defensive errors once again prevented The Saints from maintaining their positive start, with Noni Madueke intercepting a poor pass from Joe Lumley before laying the ball off for Christopher Nkunku to make it 2-1.
From there, they started to play steadily and dominate their opponents. In the 34th minute, Madueke scored after a clever move. Difficulties piled up when Jack Stephens grabbed Marc Cucurella's hair and pulled him down, receiving a straight red card from the referee in the 39th minute.
The next few minutes were extremely difficult for Southampton. Goalkeeper Lumley made many consecutive saves to keep the score 1-3 entering the final 20 minutes of the match.
After much effort, in the 76th minute, Nkunku defeated Lumley in a one-on-one, before Cole Palmer easily broke the deadlock. In the 87th minute, Jadon Sancho confidently dribbled and finished into a tight angle, sealing a 5-1 victory for The Blues.
This result helps them maintain second place in the table with 28 points, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference and 7 points behind Liverpool.
