Yellow card - Marcos Alonso is booked for time wasting.
90' +2
There are still two minutes for Southampton to equalise, but the ball is down the wrong end of the pitch at the minute. Ryan Bertrand appears to have injured his hamstring, resulting in the away side being down to 10 men in the closing stages.
90'
The fourth official indicates that there will be four minutes of additional time. Will Southampton score an equaliser in the final minutes of this contest?
87'
J. Stephens gets yellow.
N. Redmond gets yellow.
Yellow card - Nathan Redmond is booked for a cynical challenge as he stopped Alvaro Morata from counter-attacking up the pitch.
Yellow card - Jack Stephens also receives a booking for Southampton.
85'
CHANCE! The away side are beginning to put pressure on Chelsea as they throw more bodies forward in search of an equaliser. They are nearly rewarded as a low cross towards the front post is met by Charlie Austin, whose effort from inside the six-yard box hit the side netting.
82'
D. Zappacosta enters the game and replaces V. Moses.
Substitution - Victor Moses is replaced for Davide Zappacosta in the closing stages of this match.
79'
HOW HAS HE NOT SCORED! A quick set-piece from Chelsea is played into the path of Cesc Fabregas, who dribbled with the ball into Southampton's box before poking his effort towards goal. The ball went through Fraser Forster's legs and trickled across the goalmouth, before being scrambled to safety.
76'
Chelsea have two good chances to increase their advantage as Alvaro Morata is picked out inside the right-hand corner of the box. He fired a powerful shot at Fraser Forster which was saved back into the path of Moses who crossed the ball to Marcos Alonso, but the defender could only head wide.
73'
Álvaro Morata enters the game and replaces E. Hazard.
Substitution - Eden Hazard receives a standing ovation as he is replaced by Alvaro Morata, who returns from injury,
Minute
Description
72'
S. Boufal enters the game and replaces P. Højbjerg.
Substitution - Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is withdrawn for Sofiane Boufal. Southampton's final change is an attacking one as a more defensive minded player is replaced by an attacking one.
69'
DISALLOWED GOAL! Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas play a neat one-two in Southampton's box, before the Beligium put the ball past Forster into the net. Unfortunately for Hazard, Fabregas was flagged offside resulting in his goal being ruled out.
68'
Cesc Fàbregas enters the game and replaces Pedro.
Substitution - Pedro is replaced by Cesc Fabregas.
66'
Jack Stephens makes another error in possession by misplacing his pass, which instead fell straight into the path of Pedro. He played a first-time pass to Eden Hazard, who had made a good run behind Southampton's defensive line, but it was overhit and dealt with.
63'
CHANCE! Charlie Austin's first touch almost results in an equaliser for Southampton, after the forward was given the ball outside Chelsea's 18-yard box. Austin fired his effort towards the bottom right-hand corner, but his shot was met and tipped around the post by Courtois. What an introduction that would have been!
61'
C. Austin enters the game and replaces M. Gabbiadini.
Substitution - Manolo Gabbiadini is replaced by Charlie Austin, who has been in good goalscoring form of late.
58'
There has yet to be a meaningful effort in this half, with both sides exchanging possession. Southampton are trying to stay in this contest for as long as possible, before taking the game to Chelsea by attacking in the final quarter of the match.
55'
STAT: Marcos Alonso has had a hand in 14 goals since his Chelsea debut. He has scored 10 times and assisted on four occasions.
52'
It has been a quiet start to this half, with Chelsea continuing to keep possession as they search of another goal. Southampton may have to turn to Charlie Austin, sooner rather than later, to increase their attacking threat in this contest.
49'
A slip from Jack Stephens results in a fast counter-attack from Chelsea, with Pedro carrying the ball forward. He played it to Eden Hazard, who cut inside but was tackled well at the vital moment before he could get his shot away.
46'
Southampton get the second half underway and are now attacking from left to right in this contest.
45' +3
Marcos Alonso has scored a goal for Chelsea!
GOOOAAALLL!!! CHELSEA 1–0 SOUTHAMPTON – MARCOS ALONSO OPENS THE SCORING WITH A BRILLIANT FREE KICK – The defender stepped up to take the set-piece from 25-yards out before curling it low and around the wall into the bottom left-hand corner. Could Fraser Forster have done better? The supporters inside Stamford Bridge will not care about that as their side have taken the lead!
45' +2
M. Yoshida gets yellow.
Yellow card - Maya Yoshida is booked for hauling down Eden Hazard outside the 18-yard box.
45'
The fourth official indicates that there will be two minutes of added time at the end of this half.
43'
OFF THE POST! Pedro picks the ball up on the left-hand touchline before drifting inside and beating two players. The Spaniard eventually produced a shot towards goal, which took a deflection and cannoned off the left-hand post before being cleared to safety.
41'
Another good opportunity for the home side as a cross from Victor Moses is controlled well by Willian. The Brazilian brought the ball down and layed it off to Bakayoko, whose shot from outside the box was blocked behind for a corner. Chelsea failed to capitalise from the resuilting set-piece.
38'
STAT: Southampton’s 18-point tally after 17 games is their lowest at this stage of a season in five years.
36'
Southampton are taking the sting of the game by maintaining possession well, which is a clever tactical decision after successive dangerous attacks from the home side.
33'
Another good save from Fraser Forster, who tips Marcos Alonso's powerful effort around the post. The defender was assisted by Willian, who played him the ball inside the box, before eventually firing a powerful strike towards the bottom left-hand corner which was saved well.
31'
Chelsea counter-attack swiftly and nearly open the scoring. Eden Hazard carried the ball down the left-hand touchline, before crossing for Pedro who narrowly failed to make contact. It fell into the path of Willian, however, who went to shoot but was met by a sliding challenge from Ryan Bertrand resulting in him failing to produce a clean strike on goal.
28'
Despite having a few chances, Chelsea need to increase the tempo in their attack as the away side are defending comfortably at the moment. The introduction of Alvaro Morata could potentially cause them more problems as he would provide a more physical test for Southampton's three centre backs.
25'
GOOD SAVE! Chelsea continue to probe for a goal as Marcos Alonso picks out Eden Hazard in the 18-yard box. The Belgium controlled the ball, but was closed down by two Southampton players which resulted in him laying it off to Tiemoue Bakayoko. The French midfielder unleashed a shot from outside the box which was tipped to safety by Forster.
22'
A long-range strike from Gary Cahill nearly catches Fraser Forster out in Southampton's goal. He carried the ball forward and produced a shot from 25-yards which was parried to safety by Southampton's goalkeeper. The away side gave Cahill far too much room there.
19'
It has been an even start to this contest at Stamford Bridge, with Southampton confidently keeping possession as they look to attack instead of simply defending for a point.
17'
M. Lemina enters the game and replaces Cédric Soares.
Substitution - Cedric Soares departs with an injury for Mario Lemina. The defender did not recover from an early challenge with Gary Cahill.
14'
CHANCE! Chelsea put together their first meaningful attack as Willian picked the ball up on the left-hand touchline. He drove towards the box and played a swift one-two with Marcos Alonso, before shooting wide of the right-hand post.
11'
Southampton have a good attacking spell in this game, which included a cross from the left-hand touchline being drilled across the six-yard box. It was defended by Gary Cahill, but he failed to clear the ball to safety. Thankfully for Chelsea's captain, he managed to poke it away with his second attempt before an attacking effort was fired at goal.
9'
STAT: Southampton have kept one clean sheet in their last 24 Premier League games against Chelsea.
6'
The pattern continues in this contest, but Southampton are defending well and look organised in the opening stages of this game. It's important for Mauricio Pellegrino's side to put in a good defensive performance as questions were asked when they conceded four at home to Leicester on Wednesday.
4'
Chelsea begin to stamp their authority on this match by maintaining possession whilst pinning Southampton in their defensive half. Antonio Conte's side are yet to create an opportunity, but are moving the ball quickly as they search for an opening.
2'
Both teams exchange spells of possession in the opening minutes of this match. Southampton are notably pressing Chelsea very high up the pitch, which has already resulted in two defensive mistakes from the home side.
1'
Referee Roger East blows his whistle and we’re off! Chelsea start the game and are attacking from left to right in the first half.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE text commentary of the Premier League fixture between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge.
Antonio Conte’s side will be hoping to secure back-to-back wins in the league, whilst Southampton will aim to bounce back from a heavy midweek defeat.
After suffering an unexpected defeat to West Ham last weekend, Chelsea responded perfectly by beating Huddersfield Town 3-1 on Tuesday evening. There were doubts surrounding Chelsea and how they would perform without Alvaro Morata, who was unavailable with a back injury. Willian and Pedro, who were brought in for the Spanish forward in a different system, benefitted from his absence by both scoring at John Smith’s stadium. It will be interesting to see if Morata is recalled to Antonio Conte’s starting eleven after such a convincing victory without him.
Claude Puel, who was sacked by Southampton at the end of last season, experienced the perfect revenge on his former club as his Leicester side were 4-1 winners at St Mary’s on Wednesday. It compounded the misery on Mauricio Pellegrino, whose Southampton side have only won one out of their last five league matches. Travelling to Stamford Bridge is a daunting task for most teams, but the Saints’ task is made even harder this afternoon as they have had one less day to rest compared to their opponents.
In this fixture last season, today’s home side won 4-2 in a result that edged them closer to securing the Premier League title. Goals from Eden Hazard, Gary Cahill and a brace from Diego Costa secured the points for Chelsea, whilst Oriol Romeu and Ryan Bertrand scored for Southampton.
HEAD TO HEAD: Chelsea have won three of the previous five meetings and drawn once, whilst Southampton were victorious at Stamford Bridge in the 2015/16 campaign.
There’s just over 15 minutes to go until kick off, so let’s reveal how the two teams line up…
Chelsea substitutes: Caballero, Rudiger, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Morata, Zappacosta, Batshuayi.
Chelsea XI (3-4-3): Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill; Moses, Bakayoko, Kante, Alonso; Pedro, Hazard, Willian.
Southampton substitutes: Davis, Austin, Tadic, McCarthy, van Dijk, Lemina, Boufal.
Chelsea have made one change as Gary Cahill returns to the starting eleven for Antonio Rudiger. Alvaro Morata will start this contest on the bench for the home side.
Southampton have made six changes with Jack Stephens, Wesley Hoedt, James Ward-Prowse, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Nathan Redmond and Manolo Gabbiadini being brought in to start this contest.
The teams walk out of the tunnel to a rapturous reception from the crowd inside Stamford Bridge. The game will begin shortly.
HALF-TIME - CHELSEA 1-0 SOUTHAMPTON - The opening 45 minutes comes to an end with Chelsea leading courtesy of a Marcos Alonso free kick. The goal was coming for the home side, who had a series of opportunies as the break approached. Tiemoue Bakayoko saw his long-range effort saved well by Fraser Forster, whilst Pedro hit the post on the stroke of half time, but it Alonso who opened the scoring.
FULL-TIME - CHELSEA 1-0 SOUTHAMPTON - The home side close out the game well to secure the three points at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had the better opportunities throughout the contest, but failed to increase their advantage after Marcos Alonso's goal on the stroke of half time. Southampton had two chances via Charlie Austin late on, but failed to create enough attacking opportunities during the 90 minutes to trouble Courtois in Chelsea's goal.
Thank you for joining our Live Text Commentary this afternoon between Chelsea and Southampton. Until next time, goodbye.
STAT: Antonio Conte has the best win percentage of any permanent Chelsea manager in league history.
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