Southampton 1-0

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Chelsea 1-0 Southampton: Marcos Alonso scores fourth goal of the season as Antonio Conte's Blues move level on points with Manchester United

By Sami Mokbel for The Mail on Sunday

Antonio Conte will wonder why this was all so tense. It really should not have been.
Marcos Alonso’s free-kick secured Chelsea a deserved win over Southampton but their victory could have been far more comprehensive.
Had Charlie Austin taken any of three late chances to equalise, Chelsea would have suffered an almighty injustice.

In the end, though, the Blues bandwagon rolled on, making it eight wins in their last 10 games.
Their title defence will surely end in failure — Manchester City are seeing to that — but Conte and his players are not about to surrender.

‘I want to remember that in the last 10 games, we won eight games, drew only one, against Liverpool away and lost only one, at West Ham,’ said Conte.
‘If someone asks me if I want to sign for this in the next 10 games, I’m ready. Someone is forgetting our run, because there is a team (Manchester City) winning every game.’
Southampton will rue the chances Austin missed in the dying stages and manager Mauricio Pellegrino is struggling for answers. One win in nine Premier League games is dismal form and Saints are just three points off the drop zone.

The Argentinian said earlier in the week that he would only pick players who are 100 per cent committed, and he dropped a pre-match bombshell by axing key defender Virgil van Dijk.
As the Dutchman stewed on the bench, his face spoke a thousand words but after the way this game developed, Pellegrino had done him a favour.

Southampton’s defence coped relatively comfortably during the opening exchanges but Saints were forced into an early change. Cedric limped off in the 17th minute to be replaced by Mario Lemina.
Soon Chelsea took control. Fraser Forster was increasingly busy, the England keeper stopping efforts from Alonso, Gary Cahill and N’Golo Kante.

But the chances were far from clear-cut, much to Conte’s annoyance — and the Italian struggles to hide his emotions at the best of times. Needless to say, he was far from happy with how the opening 30 minutes panned out, his gesticulations becoming more frantic with every passing minute.
Forster was called upon again in the 33rd minute, producing an excellent near-post stop to deny Alonso for a second time before Pedro struck the foot of a post with a low, deflected effort.
The Southampton dam had to burst at some point and so it proved as the Blues netted what proved to be the winner two minutes into first-half stoppage time.
Eden Hazard’s turn past Maya Yoshida to earn Chelsea a free-kick 25 yards out was sublime.

Alonso’s curling effort past Forster was just as special, the Spaniard’s strike swinging viciously around the wall before flashing past the keeper.
Perhaps Forster could have got down to it quicker but that should not take anything away from Alonso’s stunning goal.

Conte could not contain his relief. Pellegrino could not disguise his misery. After Southampton’s demoralising 4-1 loss to Leicester in midweek, he would have been satisfied with a resilient first-half showing. Truth be told, though, his side were fortunate to be only 1-0 behind at half-time.
The second period started much like the first, with Chelsea in the ascendancy. Willian fired over the bar after cutting in from the right flank before Cesar Azpilicueta was off target with another long-range effort.
Pellegrino introduced top scorer Austin for the ineffective Manolo Gabbiadini in the 61st minute in an attempt to awaken Southampton’s dozy attack.

The move nearly paid instant dividends as Austin — sent clear by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg — was denied by Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in a one-on-one.
It was a warning to Chelsea that, despite their dominance of the ball, this game was not done yet. They created several chances to kill the game, and even had the ball in the back of the net in the 69th minute. Hazard fired past Forster after a neat exchange of passes with substitute Cesc Fabregas, but the effort was ruled out for the tightest of offside calls.

Alonso was denied a second goal by the overworked Forster, who then saved substitute Alvaro Morata’s fierce strike as the Blues sought to put the contest to bed.
Yet somehow Southampton clung on to hope of a draw and again Austin drew a save from Courtois before the Saints striker flicked another shot wide five minutes from time as Chelsea — so comfortable for most of the match — clung on grimly.

CHELSEA (3-4-2-1): Courtois 7; Azpilicueta 7, Christensen 7, Cahill 7; Moses 6.5 (Zappacosta 82), Bakayoko 6.5, Kante 7, Alonso 7.5; Pedro 6.5 (Fabregas 68, 6.5), Willian 8; Hazard 7 (Morata 73)
Subs not used: Caballero, Rudiger, Drinkwater, Batshuayi.
Manager: Antonio Conte: 7

SOUTHAMPTON (3-4-2-1): Forster 7.5; Stephens 7, Yoshida 6, Hoedt 6.5; Cedric 6 (Lemina 17, 6), Romeu 6.5, Hojberg 7 (Boufal 72), Bertrand 6.5; Ward-Prowse 6.5, Redmond 6.5; Gabbiadini 5 (Austin 61, 6.5)
Subs not used: McCarthy, Davis, Van Dijk
Booked: Yoshida, Redmond, Stephens
Manager: Mauricio Pellegrino: 6

Referee - Roger East: 6
Att: 41,562
MOM: Willian

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Southampton 0: Marcos Alonso's 30-yard free-kick bags the points as Saints drop Virgil van Dijk

Matt Law

Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino dropped central defender Virgil van Dijk as his team went a fifth game without a victory. Van Dijk was one of six Saints players to pay for the 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Leicester City. But, while they were better than they had been in midweek, Pellegrino’s men still slipped to defeat against Chelsea.

A Marcos Alonso free-kick was enough to clinch victory for the Blues, but it was the man who spent the entire match on the substitutes’ bench that caused most intrigue. Van Dijk had started 11 successive games before the trip to Stamford Bridge and the timing of his omission will only increase talk of a potential January move away from Southampton.

Chelsea were one of the clubs, along with Liverpool and Arsenal, who were interested in signing £70 million-rated Van Dijk during the summer, while Manchester City are known to want central defensive cover in the next transfer window.

This was an important three points for Chelsea and head coach Antonio Cone, who stuck with Eden Hazard in the ‘false nine’ role, even though Alvaro Morata was back from injury. But it was left wing-back Alonso who broke the deadlock for the Blues in time added on for stoppages at the end of the first half.

Conte had complained that only two minutes had been added on to the opening 45, but there was still time for Alonso to strike. Maya Yoshida was booked for cutting down Hazard and Alonso stepped up to send a perfectly-executed set-piece past Fraser Forster, who had almost single-handedly kept Chelsea out up to that point.

Following a slow start from the hosts during which Willian shot wide after swapping passes with Alonso, Forster made his first saves of note in the 21st minute. Forster dived to his left to save a well-hit volley from Alonso and then recovered to stop Gary Cahill’s long-range effort.

Forster’s best save of the first-half came from N’Golo Kante, after the midfielder had been teed up by Hazard. Chelsea were cutting though Southampton’s defence, without Van Dijk, time and time again, and Forster denied Alonso once more before being saved by his post. Pedro wriggled his way through and sent in a shot that was deflected on to the post off Jack Stephens, but Alonso managed to send Chelsea in at the break with a deserved lead. The goal was Alonso’s 10th in the Premier League since joining Chelsea last summer.

Pellegrino made his second change, following Cedric Soares’ early withdrawal through injury, by sending on Charlie Austin, who had scored two goals in his previous three appearances, to replace Manolo Gabbiadini. And just seconds after stepping on to the pitch, Austin was presented with a great chance to level the scores. Nathan Redmond sent the striker through, but his shot was well saved by Thibaut Courtois.

Cesc Fabregas was Conte’s first change and he too almost made an instant impact. The Spaniard played a neat one-two with Hazard and the Belgian fired the ball into the net, but Fabregas had been ruled narrowly offside.

Alonso nearly doubled his and Chelsea’s tally with 20 minutes remaining, but Forster dived to keep the ball out before Pellegrino made his final substitution that angered the travelling Saints fans. Boos rang out from the away end at Stamford Bridge, as Pierre-Emile Hojberg was taken off and replaced by Sofiane Boufal.

Quick thinking from Willian almost helped Fabregas seal the three points for Chelsea with time running out. His quickly-taken free-kick caught out the Southampton defence and Fabregas rolled the ball through Forster’s legs from a tight angle but there was nobody to turn it into the empty net. It mattered not for the home side and Pellegrino was left to face questions over what the future may hold for Van Dijk.