Chelsea FC vs Southampton FC: Post-Match Reflections…

A Game Of Two Halves

By Ben Sutherland from Crystal Palace, London, UK (DSC01396) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsChelsea FC can claim to be massively disappointed with the end result after their near total second half dominance, but it could have been a different story before the break. Southampton managed to force Courtois to make 4 spectacular saves from 7 shots (2 from clear-cut chances) in a first half they totally dominated, inspired by the impressive Saido Mane who was involved in almost everything good that Southampton did upfront. He was responsible for 2 of the shots as well as winning the penalty (which was wrongly awarded) from which Tadic scored their goal (via the boot of Courtois). Chelsea, on the other hand, managed just 5 shots with the only one on target leading to the goal from the head of Diego Costa after an excellent Ivanovic cross. Costa was responsible for 3 of the shots, all headers.

But after the break, it was all Chelsea, with Southampton managing just one more shot on target, a blistering strike by Alderwield from a free-kick that forced Courtois to make another impressive save. Chelsea managed a massive 17 shots in the second half alone (4 from clear-cut chances), forcing Forster to make 5 equally impressive saves as well.

Again, Costa was massively involved, taking another 4 shots, but none were on target, although he struck the post with one and had another blocked impressively by Fonte. Chelsea FC’s second half performance was reminiscent of the high intensity pressing and quick passing football witnessed early in the season and it was made possible by the introduction of Ramires (for Matic) who hassled Wanyama and Schneiderlin relentlessly.

Next: Contrasting Fullbacks