Chelsea was in total control of the Southampton match courtesy of two superb Timo Werner goals but everything went in vain when Southampton equalized dramatically in the injury time to claim a point after Danny Ings and Che Adams had earlier brought the visitors back from 2-0 down to 2-2 at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea led 2-0 after half an hour and were 3-2 up in stoppage time when Jan Vestergaard headed in a dramatic injury-time equalizer to give a deserved point for Southampton.
An occasion that should have been remembered for Werner and Havertz scoring their first goals in the Premier League. The German scored the opening goal that came after a quarter of an hour courtesy of a sublime dummy in a flash that bamboozled Jan Bednarek.
Werner accelerated past Bednarek before he drove into the penalty area and slammed a low, right-footed shot past McCarthy. It was his first goal of the Premier League that showed his abilities as a fine frontman and his second goal soon followed after that.
His second goal saw him lobbing the ball over the opponent goalkeeper, Alex McCarthy before pushing it into the goal.
The Chelsea striker could have got his hattrick in the first hour of the match itself as his third goal was cancelled due to an offside call from the referee. He also missed the target nearly as he headed a cross from Ben Chilwell and one of his shots edged past the side past in a tight angle.
McCarthy made a flying save to prevent a header from Blues defender, Kurt Zouma before the Saints started to fight back their way into the game in the second half. But the Saints managed to pull off a goal just before the half time.
Chelsea keeper Kepa gave some good saves to keep the match for Chelsea. Vestergaard’s glancing header diverted a volley from Saints debutant Theo Walcott in the Chelsea goal which showed the crack in the defence and inspired a comeback.
But the second half was full of drama as expected. In just the 57th minute, the visitors drew level as Kurt Zouma failed to deal with an air-ball. Chelsea keeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga pulled out a challenge with Adams but it was not enough to stop Adams from firing into the roof of the net to make it 2-2.
It was yet again an error caused by Kurt Zouma and Kepa combined and needless to say, every superb save he did in the first half was shadowed by his one error. This is not the first time individual errors have made Chelsea drop points.
German winger, Kai Havertz came strongly to restore the lead of the Blues as he tucked home to make it 3-2 for Chelsea. It was purely a team goal that saw Werner, Havertz, and Pulsiic all combining to set up the goal.
All the goals that Lampard’s men conceded were pure of defensive mistakes which surely has frustrated the coach time after time. Kai Havertz was responsible for losing possession in his own half for the first goal of the Saints, a weak back-pass from Kurt Zouma, and a poorly attempted block from goalkeeper Kepa lead to the second goal.
The third goal came in the stoppage time where an unnecessary free-kick was granted to the visitors and they did well from the set-piece as the defenders of Chelsea couldn’t manage to clear the ball well from the penalty area.
Chelsea was level in the second half for just 121 seconds before Havertz restored the lead as he scored the first time in the Premier League. But the game was totally out of the hands of Chelsea as Southampton looked dangerous and exposed the fragile defence of the home team. it seemed like the Saints would score more if there was time still left.
Werner wasn’t seen at all in the second half as the Blues completely in control of the match. It was an awful performance from Chelsea and no protection was served to shield the defence by N’Golo Kanté or Jorginho in the midfield area. Chelsea’s defence couldn’t hold Southampton’s immense press and eventually crumbled down due to pressure. The duo of Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen couldn’t show the leadership in the nerve-breaking moments to secure the three points.
