April 09, (THEWILL) – Chelsea humiliated Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon, winning 6-0 with braces from Mason Mount and Timo Werner.
After recent defeats to Brentford and Real Madrid, the Blues got off to a flying start as Marcos Alonso fired home the opener, followed by Mount’s strike, and Werner’s race through to make it 3-0 before the 25th minute for their fastest ever three-goal lead in the Premiership.
Before halftime, Kai Havertz scored a tap-in to make it 4-0, and Werner and Mount added braces before the hour.
Werner hit the woodwork twice in the first six minutes after a fast start. His first try was respectable, dragging his shot across goal and onto the post, but his second effort should have been buried, instead he headed his effort over the crossbar.
Chelsea took the lead through Alonso, despite the German’s bad luck in front of goal. Following a deliberate lay-off from Mount, the wing back arrived on the scene to shoot a half-volley through Fraser Forster’s legs.
Mount made it 2-0 with a magnificent strike from the edge of the box, while Werner put his early misses behind him to take advantage of a wayward headed pass from James Ward-Prowse to extend the lead even further.
Ward-Prowse had headed the ball backwards under little pressure from a Southampton corner, allowing Werner to nip in and run the length of the Southampton half, round Forster, and put in to give Chelsea the win.
The Saints’ disastrous performance was made even worse when Mohammed Salisu went wandering with the ball, allowing Werner to dispossess the Saints’ player. Though the attacker could only hit the post once again, the rebound dropped perfectly for Havertz to tap in to round up a fantastic first half for the visitors.
Shortly after the restart, Chelsea walked in another, with Forster stopping N’Golo Kante’s attempted chip into Werner’s path for a shot into an empty net, giving Thomas Tuchel’s side their sixth goal.
It was not yet an hour into the game and thoughts had instantly turned to Southampton’s two infamous 9-0 defeats over the years.
However, substitutions were made, which slowed the pace of the game considerably, and Chelsea maintained their comfortable advantage, with their opponents obviously depleted and distressed as the game neared its conclusion.
Throughout the afternoon, the hosts were outplayed and outgunned, with attackers Che Adams and Adam Armstrong posing little threat to Chelsea’s defence. Armando Broja, their on-loan star, was likewise unable to play because he was ineligible to face his parent club.
Chelsea’s triumph moves them eight points clear of Tottenham Hotspur, as well as strengthening their lead over Manchester United and Arsenal, who also lost on Saturday. Southampton, however, has dropped to 13th place as their goal difference has deteriorated.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
