Chelsea 0-2 Southampton: Hits and Flops from the game
Chelsea welcomed Southampton to Stamford Bridge on Thursday sitting in 4th place on the table. Frank Lampard’s men were near perfect at the weekend, as they comfortably overcame Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur. For the Blues, the game against the Saints was an opportunity to assert their dominance on the 4th place in the Premier League.
Their opponents were on a nifty run themselves, winning 3 of their last 5 games and were 3 points above the relegation zone. Back to back defeats against Newcastle United and West Ham United put the Saints under tremendous pressure, but they had redeemed themselves with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa last weekend. However, Ralph Hasenhuttl knew that he needed to continue this form if his team were to stay safe from the drop zone.
Lampard, on the other hand, would've been hoping that his team could be a little more clinical in the final third. The Englishman was well aware that one loss could put his team back under undue pressure and he named his team accordingly.
Chelsea Starting XI: Kepa Arrizabalaga; Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma, Fikayo Tomori, Emerson; N’Golo Kante, Jorginho; Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham, Willian
The home team were shocked when the Saints went ahead through Michael Obafemi in the 31st minute. Southampton took a 1-0 lead into the half time as Chelsea were left with a lot to do after the break. The home side rallied for an equalizer in the second half, however, Southampton increased their lead in the 73rd minute through Nathan Redmond. Despite a late onslaught, the Blues failed to score and succumbed to a 2-0 defeat. Here are the hits and flops from the game.
Flop: Tammy Abraham
The Englishman flourished under the guidance of Lampard at Chelsea this season. Abraham had been consistently good for the Blues this term and was impressive against Tottenham last weekend too. He has already scored 11 goals in the Premier League ahead of the game and was expected to be a handful for the Saints defence. Unfortunately, the Englishman failed to live up to the expectations.
Abraham could not register any shots on target in the game; his only attempt was off the mark. He had 49 touches on the ball and registered 26 passes with 62% accuracy. Unfortunately, he missed Chelsea’s biggest chance of the game, an opportunity that should have been bread and butter for a player of his calibre.