Chelsea’s nightmare start to the season showed no signs of ending at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with the Blues going down 3-1 to Southampton.
The Blues, with Falcao starting in attack in place of the suspended Diego Costa, did open the scoring on 11 minutes courtesy of yet another free-kick from the in-form Willian.
Soon after the Saints were convinced they should have (rightly) been awarded a penalty when Virgil van Dijk had his shirt pulled in the box by Branislav Ivanovic, only for their protests to be waved away by ref Robert Madley. The visitors then had another legitimate claim for a penalty when Ramires caught Sadio Mané, but once again their claims fell on deaf ears.
However, the Saints kept pushing for a goal, with Ryan Bertrand going close before Steven Davis finally levelled the scores just before the break. The goal, on 43 minutes, came after a deft chest down from Graziano Pelle.
After the break, it was Southampton who looked the far better side, with Mané going close. But Chelsea then had a decent shout for a spot-kick themselves, when Falcao was caught in the box by ‘keeper Maarten Stekelenburg. Yet once again, Madley was having none of it, booking the Colombian for a dive instead.
Soon after, the Saints got a deserved second, with Mané firing home after feeble defending from both Gary Cahill and John Terry.
The Blues looked vulnerable throughout the second-half and on 72 minutes, Pelle made it 3-1 after more poor defending, courtesy of a fine strike.
Joe Mourinho then decided to haul off Nemanja Matic, a player had come off the bench at the break.
However, the hosts continued to crumble, with the Saints dominating the final stages of the game to see out a well-deserved victory.
The win was Ronald Koeman’s charges’ first in their last 11 away league games. While with eight points from their first eight games this season, Chelsea’s horror start to the campaign continues, with the pressure starting to mount on Mourinho.
(Highlights: Footytube)