Superb Chelsea win at Southampton to go fourth
Southampton 0 Chelsea 2
Eden Hazard and Diego Costa scored to move Chelsea above Tottenham and back into the top four with a fourth straight Premier League win.
Hazard exchanged passes with Victor Moses and brilliantly fired home under Fraser Forster from a tight angle just six minutes in – his third goal in as many league games.
And Costa produced another superb individual goal shortly after half-time, smashing in from the edge of the box from Hazard’s lay-off.
The Blues – unchanged from the side that demolished Manchester United last weekend – looked confident, composed and well-organised.
After opening the scoring, Hazard could have had a second when he picked up the ball on the left of the penalty area, dropped a shoulder and beat two defenders, but fired a shot within Forster’s reach.
And Costa should have given Chelsea a second just before the break when he was played through by Nemanja Matic, bounded into the box, but shot straight at Forster’s legs.
Matic headed over from a corner and Marcos Alonso threatened with a cross-shot from the left before Costa did find the net, striking cleanly past a host of bodies in the box and into the net on 55 minutes.
Steven Davis sent a deflected header onto the top of the crossbar and Charlie Austin had a goal ruled out for offside as Saints tried to force their way back in late on.
But Chelsea almost had a third when Moses cut inside from the right and sent a fierce shot at goal that was palmed away by Forster.
Chelsea (3-4-2-1):Courtois; Luiz, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Moses (Ivanovic 86), Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro (Willian 77), Hazard; Costa (Batshuayi 88)
Subs not used: Begovic, Oscar, Terry, Chalobah
