Chelsea 4-0 Southampton |premier league highlights

Chelsea 4-0 Southampton: Enzo Maresca’s side go fourth in Premier League with much-needed win
Report and free match highlights as Chelsea stroll to just their third Premier League win in 11 games thanks to goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella against Southampton; Chelsea up to fourth as rivals for Champions League Bournemouth lose at Brighton
.Chelsea secured a much-needed win as they bounced back from a three-game losing run by thrashing Southampton 4-0 at Stamford Bridge to go fourth in the Premier League.

First-half goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Levi Colwill put Stamford Bridge at ease after a nervous start against the league’s bottom team on a night when a small group of fans protested the club’s ownership before the game.

Chelsea never looked back after that with Marc Cucurella adding a fourth goal, set up by academy graduate Tyrique George off the bench, on a near-perfect night for Enzo Maresca as results went for his team elsewhere in the race for Champions League qualification.

Christopher Nkunku celebrates after giving Chelsea a first-half lead against Southampton
Image:
Christopher Nkunku celebrates after giving Chelsea a first-half lead against Southampton.
Not only do his side now move a point off third, with fifth currently enough for Champions League qualification, but two of their rivals, Bournemouth and Aston Villa were also beaten on Tuesday night, to give Chelsea an added Palmer’s struggles in front of goal are a lingering concern, however, with Chelsea’s talisman now without a goal in seven matches in all competitions and without an assist in 14, after missing two glorious first-half chances. Confidence is seemingly an issue.For Southampton, the threat of replacing Derby as the worst team in Premier League history looms large with 11 games to go. They require three points to avoid setting a new record for the lowest points tally, which will be a struggle going by this effort.
Paul Merson was left shocked by the gap in quality from Southampton’s performance, and expressed concern for the south coast side after their 4-0 loss away to Chelsea
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson was left aghast by the performance. “I can’t believe what l am watching with Southampton. I am flabbergasted that a team in the best league in the world are this bad,” he said on Soccer Special.

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Maresca desperately needed this victory, just Chelsea’s third in their last 11 league games, otherwise the pressure would have ramped up. But with a week off now and Leicester their next opponents in the league, things are looking up. For now at least.

Sky Sports News’ Gary Cotterill gives the latest outside Stamford Bridge as a section of Chelsea fans protest over a ‘lack of direction’ from ownership
Player ratings:
Chelsea: Jorgensen (6), Gusto (7), Tosin (7), Colwill (8), Cucurella (8), Caicedo (7), Fernandez (8), Palmer (6), Sancho (7), Neto (8), Nkunku (8).

Subs: George (7), Dewsbury-Hall (6), Acheampong (6), Amougou (6), Mhueka (N/A).

Southampton: Ramsdale (5), Sugawara (5), Bree (5), Bella-Kotchap (5), Aribo (5), Walker-Peters (5), Fernandes (5), Downes (4), Smallbone (5), Sulemana (5), Onuachu (5).

Subs: Harwood-Bellis (5), Dibling (5), Manning (5), Archer (5), Santos (N/A).

Player of the Match: Marc Cucurella.

Analysis: Palmer is stuck in a rut
Chelsea’s hammering of Southampton provided the perfect platform for some of Maresca’s underperforming stars to rediscover their confidence. But that wasn’t the case for Palmer.

Cole Palmer’s goalless run stretched to seven games after failing to find the net despite having seven efforts on goal during the game
For the first time in his professional career, Palmer finds himself in a rut. And he doesn’t know how to get out of it just yet.

It wasn’t for the want of trying, either. Palmer had seven shots against Southampton, more than any other player on the pitch. Nothing was quite falling for him.

Palmer’s underlying numbers heading into this game suggested the problem didn’t just lie solely with him. No player in the league had created as many chances as him in the 13 games preceding this one.

Tuesday night’s game, however, revealed a player short on confidence. Easy to forget, being just moments before Chelsea’s first two goals, but Palmer had two glaring chances spurned.

Aaron Ramsdale stopped the first one, but half the goal was gaping for Palmer to score. Then he seemed in two minds over shooting and passing when played in down the right.

Palmer has more than enough credit in the bank to shrug off this run. It is the first dip in a glittering first 18 months in senior football as a regular starter in which he has barely put a foot wrong.
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