Thomas Tuchel returned to the dugout following his penalty on the touchline, but all he got was a closer glimpse of another day away from home for his Chelsea side to forget.
Nine days after being overrun by a relentless and action-packed Leeds, Southampton did more of the same to Chelsea, extending the stop-and-go nature of the Londoners’ opener to this new season.
After their win against Leicester, Southampton instantly put a damper on Chelsea’s hopes of building some momentum. In an impressive way too.
Adam Armstrong’s late first-half effort gave Southampton a rare victory over Chelsea at St Mary’s on Tuesday evening.
There are times when the south coast club’s faith in youth will seem like a gamble. And there are times when it will seem like a master stroke of a philosophy.
This was more of the latter.
Their youthful energy made them hard to stifle at certain times and hard to beat at others.
Romeo Lavia put in another assured performance in the center of the park for Southampton, capping off his performance with the equaliser.
The scorer of their gifted teenage midfielder Romeo Lavia encapsulated it, putting in another mature performance with his first senior goal before succumbing to injury.
Meanwhile, young German centre-back Armel Bella-Kotchap was one of Southampton’s standout performers at the back, but far from the only one.
Both prospects arrived in the summer as part of Southampton’s youth recruitment drive as they look to develop promising talent.
It wasn’t hard to see why Lavia and Bella-Kotchap were believed to fit the bill, and why more arrivals before Thursday’s deadline might be of the same mold.
Meanwhile, after this timely reminder, Chelsea will be grateful to still have the opportunity to add as much quality as they can, wherever they can, in the next 48 hours.
Chelsea struggled to live with Southampton’s intense run and lost control of the game after Saints equalised
Despite all the possession in the second half, when they really needed it, they couldn’t create the chances to make it count.
The opener was a sign of things to come, especially from Southampton.
It was a high-energy outing on a St Mary’s pitch that had been ravaged by an illness that would normally have been cured but for the heat.
From the home side’s perspective, it was a good idea after a similar approach helped Leeds overcome Chelsea the last time Thomas Tuchel’s side were on the road.
Chelsea, who lost the ill Reece James, injured N’Golo Kante and suspended Conor Gallagher, at least looked a little better prepared for it this time around, although ultimately they were still undone.
Mohammed Elyounoussi tested Edouard Mendy with the first try of the game but, as the game began to settle down, the visitors began to have their own encouraging moments.
Armstrong caused four Chelsea back problems throughout and Thomas Tuchel’s side struggled on the night
A split ball in defense from Portsmouth-born Mason Mount, sultry as ever against Southampton, sent Raheem Sterling wide but he fired straight at Gavin Bazunu.
A quick move down the left, started by a quick throw from Marc Cucurella and continued by the heel of Kai Havertz, ended with Mohammed Salisu finishing the ball clear.
Salisu then again needed to stop Mount before his centre-back partner Armel Bella-Kotchap produced a plaudits-winning expert piece that belied his 20 years.
Raheem Sterling had given Chelsea a deserved lead but then lost control of the game on a difficult night at Southampton.
With Sterling racing towards him supported by teammates to his left, Bella-Kotchap lingered and lingered, refusing to commit and decide, before producing a perfectly timed interception to dispossess. This was, however, only a temporary reprieve for Southampton.
Seconds later Chelsea went ahead again, Havertz and Mount combining to find Sterling who turned and fired home the second attempt.
Southampton responded with two efforts from Kyle Walker-Peters and Romain Perraud being blocked and, in a wonderfully open spell, Havertz fired straight at Bazunu after a brilliant pass from Ziyech, who gave his first start of the season instead of Gallagher. , despite his openness to moving away.
Questions could be raised about Edouard Mendy for Southampton’s equalizer after he got a palm on Lavia’s effort.
Chelsea then gifted Southampton a draw and it wasn’t a great sequence of events that captain Cesar Azpilicueta would want to see again.
First, he needlessly conceded a corner with a poor back pass and then compounded it by passing the resulting corner straight to Romeo Lavia, who buried the ball past Mendy, becoming the first player born in 2004 to score in the Premier League.
The way the promising Belgian midfielder positioned himself before striking the ball so powerfully that you wouldn’t know it was his first ever goal.
Just as two minutes of added time were announced, Adam Armstrong opened his account for the season. It was a patient move that finished when Ibrahima Diallo and James Ward-Prowse made use of Perraud’s deflected ball.
After a difficult summer in which questions were raised about Ralph Hasenhuttl, he and his team have enjoyed a strong start to the league campaign.
Armel Bella-Kotchap produced an impressive display of defensive sureness keeping Chelsea’s attacking talent at bay.
As Chelsea’s defenders all rushed back to protect their goal, a composed Armstrong held his ground to receive the cut-back, took one touch to control and a second to fire the ball into the top corner.
Chelsea’s mood did not improve on the stroke of half-time when Adams flicked the ball into Jorginho’s face, and their complaints continued long after the half-time whistle.
And they were lucky not to concede a third when Southampton again attacked down the left and Perraud crossed for the unmarked Elyounoussi.
He looked to have the easy task of getting in, but Cucurella flew in to block, apparently with his shoulder.
Bella-Kotchap congratulates teammate Romeo Lavia after he equalized for Southampton midway through the opening period.
Having brought on Mateo Kovacic at half-time, the most advanced reinforcements have arrived at half-time in ex-Saint Armando Broja and Christian Pulisic.
Although it was Southampton who came closest to extending their lead when Salisu’s header was denied by Thiago Silva.
Southampton spent the latter stages largely defending, but Bella-Kotchap, Salisu and Company seemed to like it and held on before the roof came off St Mary’s at full-time.
Thomas Tuchel was left scratching his head after his Chelsea side made a late start to the game.
match facts
SOUTHAMPTON (4-2-3-1): Bazunu 7.5; Walker-Peters 8, Bella-Kotchap 9, Salisu 8, Perraud 8 (Djenepo 73, 6.5); Diallo 7.5, Lavia 8 (Aribo 59, 7); Elyounoussi 7, Ward-Prowse 7.5, A Armstrong 7.5 (Lyanco 86); 7. Adams.
Scorers: Lavia 28, Armstrong 45+1
Manager: Ralph Hasenhuttl 8.5
CHELSEA (4-2-2-2): Mendy 6; Azpilicueta 5 (Broja 66, 6), Silva 6.5, Koulibaly 6.5, Cucurella 7; Jorginho 5.5 (Chilwell 67, 6), Loftus-Cheek 6.5 (Kovacic 46, 6); Ziyech 6, Mount 6; Havertz 6 (Pulisic 66, 6), Sterling 6.5.
Booked: Pulisic
Scorer: Sterling 23
Manager: Thomas Tuchel 6
Referee: Michael Oliver 6
Attendance: 31,072
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