Chelsea vs. Southampton Live Football Results

With their 3-2 win over Southampton this past weekend, the turn of events in the game was shocking, especially when looking at the latest football results. Southampton seemed to be set to win the game against Chelsea with a score of 2-0, but Chelsea came from two goals down and won the game, largely thanks to the effort of Olivier Giroud.
This goes to show that sometimes the events surrounding the result are more crushing than the result itself. This was the first game for newly appointed Southampton manager Mark Hughes, and for close to 70 minutes, the Saints had the leading advantage – in fact, this was perhaps the best performance they gave their supporters this season.
However, in the span of eight minutes, Chelsea turned the tables and were on the road to victory after taking charge 3-2. All this was thanks to Giroud, who came on as a substitute, and his presence was clearly inspirational to the team – he scored twice to lift the team spirit. At the end of the latest football results, it was difficult to leave St Mary’s without feeling the worst for Southampton.

Why Southampton’s loss is disappointing

Tonight’s football results make it disappointing to realize that Southampton lost, especially when you consider their first half being as brave as you could get. They definitely deserved their lead, particularly because the live football results show Chelsea having a lukewarm performance until Giroud came on. With Antonio Conte switching things up in the second half, he turned the game around effectively. That result leaves Southampton in 18th place (as of football results today), two places away from the Championship level, and only five games left.
Southampton only have one win since November in the Premier League, and this performance already serves to shatter the fragile confidence in the camp, particularly when Giroud made the score 2-1.
The major weakness with Southampton lies in goal scoring, with the team having among the highest rates for goal wastage in the Premier League. In fact, the team tends to take as many shots from outside the penalty area as they do within it, with estimates showing their record as high as 46%, the fourth highest in the EPL.
Their style of play is also very easy to figure out; since their possession tends to be in the center third of the field, (they have the second-highest rate of this occurrence at 47%). This forces them to spend high energy amounts playing in front of opponents, making most of their shots happen outside the penalty box.

Game analysis

First half

Chelsea did not have an inspirational performance either, with their conversion rate for attempts at flicks remaining at 0%. Southampton had issues with possession and polish, though they were passionate about the game.
This makes it hard to see where the Saints can get additional points in the latest football results. The game itself had plenty of mishaps, such as Marcos Alonso’s studs raking down a calf, making him a candidate for retrospective punishment since the referee did not spot the mistake.
Chelsea had their own issues, including failing to locate passes behind the Saints defence. They were unable to combine their efforts successfully, and this allowed Southampton to organize their defence quickly. Another mistake was Hazard moving wide – Chelsea would have held the ball and moved up towards the goal, but the Saints defence had numbers, even within the box. This made them able to clear any attempts at crosses by the visitors. The final mishap was Azpilicueta’s early crosses to Morata – this time, they were not as effective as earlier in the season.
The failure to create chances from their possession led The Blues to defend risky counter attacks from the home team. This included direct balls that went to the aggressive Long, who ran to the left and behind, therefore causing issues for the Chelsea defence. This was particularly evident because the back three needed help from the wingbacks and midfielders. The left was the source of many issues for the visitors, as Bertrand and Tadic delivered the ball into the box consistently, and this led to the early lead the home team took.

Second half

For the second half, there was evidently greater levels of intense play. Southampton led the charge by pressing deep into Chelsea’s half, resulting in more fouls by them to stop Chelsea from using the open space between the lines, and counter fouls to stop the home team counter attacks.
The aggressive approach by Southampton to search for goal no.2 meant Chelsea did not have the same problem in the second half regarding combinations, since they could rely on Hazard and Willian to do the job of dribbling past opponents. In addition, Chelsea were able to move the ball to the Southampton penalty box in greater consistency. This however, led to a greater risk of conceding at the back because Long had extra space to utilize in counters and create chances.
Southampton’s approach gave Chelsea continuous issues, mostly due to the quick overlaps of Bertrand as well as long balls at the back. Chelsea made numerous mistakes of giving the ball away, while James Ward-Prowse had very good delivery, even leading to the second goal that Bednarek scored.
Chelsea changed their strategy immediately, going for a 4-4-2 formation and replacing Zappacosta and Morata with Pedro and Giroud. This approach left them open in the back, though it also changed their attacking form. The greater support by the fullbacks and Hazard meant that their combinations from short passes was higher, and Fabregas and Kante could now move into the box to increase the numbers.
The presence of Giroud helped in air power. It is how he scored Chelsea’s first goal, and the equalizer came a few moments later thanks to the space that Hazard had after Kante drew Hoedt away.
Pedro’s direct runs created space for Alonso to move the ball forward and score the game winner, and Chelsea later changed to a 5-4-1 formation to keep the ball and seal their win.

Final thoughts

The latest football results show the tight defence from The Saints, while their set pieces and counter attacks were impressive. However, the changes that Conte made to the Chelsea squad in the second half proved to have an impact on the team, leading to quick solutions and better play to help them win the game.