Five Chelsea players who shined against Southampton
After the two consecutive frustrating draws against west ham united and Liverpool, Chelsea finally got a victory in the premier league. The blues visited st.mary’s stadium to play Southampton and got the well-deserved victory. Goals from Eden Hazard, Ross Barkley, and Alvaro Morata helped Chelsea in outclassing Southampton. This is Chelsea's 9th win in 12 matches at St. Mary’s Stadium.
Through the game Chelsea dominated the game, however, on many occasions, Southampton was dangerous on counters but couldn’t find the net. Southampton’s striker Danny Ings and captain Ryan Bertrand missed chances which could have given Southampton the lead over Chelsea. On the other hand, Ross Barkley scored his first goal for Chelsea and also it was Morata's second goal in four days.
However, five Chelsea players stood out in the match:
#1 Eden Hazard
If there is anyone who cannot stop scoring right now then that man is none other than Eden Hazard. The Belgium captain continued his fine form and scored his 8th goal of the season and 7th of the premier league. On the half-hour mark, Ross Barkley beautifully placed the ball for Hazard who without any difficulty deceived the keeper and placed it at the bottom right corner.
Throughout the game, he created numerous chances for Chelsea and his hard work finally paid when he sets up Morata during the dying minutes of the game. Hazard sent a lovely through ball to Morata who calmly chipped it over the keeper into the net. Once again he has proved why he is compared with Ronaldo and Messi. With this form, 40 goals in the season would be like a walk in the park for the mercurial winger.
#2 Ross Barkley
Ross Barkley finally opened his account for Chelsea. After 8 games without a goal, Barkley finally got the much-awaited goal against Southampton. Chelsea got the freekick in the 57th minute and Willian directed it towards Olivier Giroud who acrobatically sends it towards Barkley who made no mistake and finished the brilliant set-piece move.
However, it took time for Barkley to settle in the match, for the first 15-20 minutes he lost possession at many occasions but after that, he not only played ball to the front line but also intercepted the ball at numbers of occasions. He played important role in the hazard opener, after winning the ball he beautifully finds Hazard who made no mistake and scored. With performances like this, Barkley has a chance to become a regular starter for Chelsea replacing Mateo Kovacic.