As starts go, it couldn't really have gone much worse for Chelsea or the returning Michael Essien. His first start in the Premier League since 2012 was opened with a wonderful looped pass over the defence. Unfortunately for Essien, in doing so, he had presented Jay Rodriguez with a glorious chance to put Southampton 1-0 up after just 13 seconds. It was a nightmare start for Chelsea but Southampton failed to properly capitalise on this gift of an early goal, with Jay Rodriguez's strike proving to be their only shot on target. Chelsea slowly crept back into the game with the introduction of Demba Ba helping to change the match in Chelsea's favour in a classic Mourinho game changing substitution.

The poor start hindered Chelsea but they slowly crept back into the game. Hazard looked lively down the left, and Mata always looked capable of creating something on his return to the starting XI. The lack of width though was a problem. Oscar and Mata interchanged on the right but both naturally drifted inwards leaving only Branislav Ivanovic to compete with the promising Luke Shaw and energetic Rodriguez down that side. Southampton's counter attacking was coming through this flank with Shaw being allowed far too much space by the Chelsea midfield. With Ivanovic pushing up, it left space down the side for Rodriguez to exploit as he was very often the Saints' outball.

This was where Southampton looked most threatening in the first half, the counter attack. WIth Lallana, Rodriguez and Ward-Prowse running straight at the Chelsea back four, they looked capable of causing some damage. Unfortunately for Pochettino's men, nothing ever came to fruition. As the half went on, the absence of Rickie Lambert got more and more confusing as Osvaldo did little more than foul John Terry for most of the game. Chelsea struggled when Southampton pressed high up the pitch and Wanyama and Schneiderlin continued to impress by dominating the midfield but despite this, the best chances of the half went Chelsea's way.

An athletic save from Boruc denied a wonderful Fernando Torres header and the rebound was hooked away before Lampard - recently subbed on for the hobbling Oscar on the 40th minute - could reach it and Southampton survived their scare. The home fans were getting frustrated. Chelsea were booed off at half-time meaning the stage was set for a Jose Mourinho half-time team talk in a bid to get Chelsea firing in the second half. 

Whatever he said at half time, it worked. 

Going into the 2nd half, the disappointing and off-the-pace Michael Essien was withdrawn and on came Demba Ba. Chelsea shifted to a 4-4-2 with Juan Mata pushing wide right and Demba Ba up top to trouble Lovren and Fonte. Chelsea were much improved. The game became more direct as Chelsea looked to exploit the aerial advantage they possessed in the Senegalese mountain of a striker and it wasn't long after that Chelsea had their goal. A corner was whipped in and John Terry rose to meet it, his header heading wide. Demba Ba got an all-important toe to the ball which steered the ball on to the post. Whilst Boruc dived to reach it, he injured his finger on the post which bounced the ball straight back into the danger area where Gary Cahill impressively swiveled to head home. Game on. 

With Boruc unable to continue, Gazziniga was called into question to keep Southampton's goal in the Chelsea onslaught that was coming. They didn't have to wait long for the second. A beautiful delivery from Mata was met by a salmon-esque leap from John Terry who steered his header into the far corner as Stamford Bridge erupted. Southampton were struggling as Chelsea got more and more direct with their play. Demba Ba constantly troubled the centre backs along with Torres who still looks sharp. Chelsea had a foothold in the game at this point and Pocchettino responded by thrusting on Davis for Ward-Prowse and Lambert for Schneiderlin. They needed to get back in the game somehow but it was getting too late. 

Torres was withdrawn and John Obi Mikel brought on to add more stability to the Chelsea midfield. Tyhe game was opening up and the 3 points were wrapped up when Demba Ba poked in a cross to cap off an impressive performance by him showing he can step up into the void left by Samuel Eto'o's injury. Southampton tried as they might but with only one shot on target all game, it certainly wasn't their finest performance going forward. The final whistle sounded and the Mourinho substiutions had done the trick. His ability to change games from the bench hasn't ever been doubted, what might be being doubted at the moment at Chelsea is his starting elevens. 

 

Here are a few of the post-match thoughts from both managers:

Jose:

The goal was like a knife in my back, we weren't ready for that and by surprise we were losing 1-0. I knew everyone would be speaking about a very good second half but in the first half I thought we played very well. We played with balance, no silly decisions, no mistakes, not going from 1-0 to 2-0. Even my change, when I had to change Oscar, it looked defensive, because we replaced Oscar with Lampard, but it was to prepare for the second half.

'I had to take Essien off and play with two strikers as he had a yellow card in a crucial area of the pitch. We went to 4-4-2 and we gave Southampton a different game, a game they didn't expect and it was difficult for them to cope with the situation.'

Pochettino:

"We has a great start, we went 1-0 up which was amazing,' he said. 'In the second half before we conceded the goals we were doing quite well but when Chelsea go in front at home it's very difficult to get back in the game."