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Southampton 1-5 Chelsea: Take a stroll along the south coast and discover the much-changed Blues

On target: Noni Madueke among the goalscorers (REUTERS)

On target: Noni Madueke among the goalscorers (REUTERS)

Southampton captain Jack Stephens was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair as the Premier League’s bottom side fell to a 5-1 defeat at the hands of leaders Chelsea.

Defender Stephens saw red in the 39th minute at St Mary’s after pulling the curls of Cucurella in an inexplicable moment of madness as the Saints prepared for a corner.

Chelsea were already leading 3-1 at the time thanks to goals from Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke, after Southampton midfielder Joe Aribo briefly canceled out Axel Disasi’s early opener.

Second-half goals from Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho caused Russell Martin’s men even more suffering.

Stephens’ ridiculous sending off was the main blunder in a series of errors from the beleaguered hosts, who lost seven points from safety after their 11th defeat of a dismal season.

Chelsea, unbeaten in six top-flight games, could easily have won more as they found the net three times and also missed a host of chances.

Blues head coach Enzo Maresca had warned his players to expect the “toughest game” of the season in Hampshire before making seven changes after Sunday’s impressive 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Blues goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen made his Premier League debut as part of squad rotation, while weakened Southampton were missing a number of key players due to a combination of injury and suspension.

Jorgensen, who arrived from Villarreal for £20m in the summer, had to make a save from Aribo after Walker-Peters’ cross in the second minute, although the latter was subsequently ruled offside.

Just five minutes later, Chelsea took the lead. Captain Enzo Fernandez delivered a dangerous corner from the left and Disasi escaped the Saints defense and headed home from a yard out.

Despite the deficit, Southampton’s start was relatively encouraging and they were rewarded with an 11th-minute equalizer.

Walker-Peters provided creativity again, easily beating Fernandez near the left touchline before firing Aribo home with a low cross.

From that moment on, things went downhill for Martin’s team.

Chelsea regained the lead in the 17th minute when Madueke intercepted an attempted pass from advanced Saints goalkeeper Joe Lumley to Walker-Peters, who slotted in Nkunku and fired into the unguarded net.

Lumley, the Saints’ fourth-choice goalkeeper, chosen in the absence of Aaron Ramsdale and Gavin Bazunu and due to the poor form of Alex McCarthy, partially redeemed himself by converting Palmer’s effort at the right-hand post.

Tosin Adarabioyo headed the resulting corner against the crossbar before Madueke doubled the visitors’ lead in the 34th minute, cutting inside Ryan Manning and slotting beautifully into the bottom left corner.

Southampton kept putting pressure on the defense with their risky attempts to attack and suffered another self-inflicted setback shortly before half-time.

After referee Tony Harrington was called to the sidelines by VAR, Stephens was sent off for the second time this season following a stupid confrontation with Cucurella in the Chelsea penalty area as James Bree waited for the free-kick.

Adarabioyo hit the right post and Madueke was twice denied by Lumley as Chelsea tried to extend their lead after the restart.

Southampton almost halved their deficit before Madueke had chances when Jorgensen parried Mateus Fernandes with his feet.

But after a brief delay caused by an on-field intruder, Palmer ended the Saints’ slim hopes of fighting back by scoring his ninth goal of the season in the 76th minute after Nkunku had done the hard work.

The traveling fans welcomed a confident victory by chanting “We have our Chelsea back” and singing their manager’s name in the final stages.

Substitute Sancho raised the mood among the home fans three minutes from time when he fired powerfully past Lumley at his near post to complete the defeat.

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