Hazard scored an early opening goal before Diego Costa's stunning strike ensured Chelsea took home all three points
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EDEN HAZARD and Diego Costa scored in a dominant Chelsea victory against Southampton at St Mary's.
The Belgium international got the Blues off to a perfect start after he ghosted behind Saints' defence before cutting in and firing the ball through Fraser Forster's legs.
Miscommunication between midfielders Steven Davis and Oriol Romeu led to Hazard's sixth minute opener after the pair allowed him to run into the box unmarked.
Saints were flat in the second half and they failed to close down Diego Costa who struck a cracking strike from the edge of the box to double the Blues' lead on 55 minutes.
Southampton fans thought they had a consolation goal to celebrate with five minutes remaining but Charlie Austin's goal was disallowed for offside.
Chelsea's convincing victory is now their fourth consecutive Premier League win after exiting the EFL Cup to West Ham in midweek.
Keep up to date with ALL the Chelsea news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary
A swinging 13 piece band with trumpets, trombones played golden oldies for fans before kick off. A bit of brass down by Southampton docks has a whole new meaning.
Chelsea skipper John Terry was ‘rested’ after being turned over by West Ham’s Michail Antonio in last Wednesday’s EFL Cup defeat.
Eden Hazard scored after barely five minutes. But even that looked pedestrian compared to Pedro’s 30 second strike against Manchester United a week ago.
Diego Costa wasted a superb chance to put Chelsea two ahead when put clean through by Nemanja Matic on 41 minutes only to shoot straight at keeper Fraser Forster.
David Luiz stopped, obstructed Nathan Redmond then fell over and won himself a free kick after 51 minutes - lucky Luiz.
Fraser Forster will never have a better chance to take Joe Hart’s place in the England team but will be terribly disappointed at letting Hazard’s shot squirm through his legs.
Diego Costa swung a stunning shot from 25 yards in for 2-0 ten minutes into the second half for his eighth goal of the season - it took him until January 10 to get there last season.
The defeat is Southampton’s first at home this season.
Southampton’s Northern Ireland skipper Steven Davis hit the bar with a header in the 75th minute.
Arsenal fly to Bulgaria tomorrow, Man City prepare to meet Barcelona and Tottenham play Bayer Leverkusen all in Champions League action while Chelsea can put their feet up and breathe down the necks of the top four.
Keep up to date with ALL the Southampton news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary
Southampton
Nov 3 – Inter Milan (H) – EL
Nov 6 – Hull (A) – PL
Nov 19 – Liverpool (H) – PL
Nov 24 – Sparta Prague (A) – EL
Nov 27 – Everton (H) – PL
Chelsea
Nov 5 – Everton (H) – PL
Nov 20 – Middlesbrough (A) – PL
Nov 26 – Spurs (H) – PL
Dec 3 – Man City (A) – PL
Dec 11 – West Brom (A) – PL
SOUTHAMPTON: Forster 6; Bertrand 6 (McQueen 78, 6), Fonte 6, Van Dijk 6, Martina 6; Clasie 5 (Boufal 61, 6), Romeu 6, Davis 6; Tadic 6 (Hojbjerg 78, 5), Redmond 5, Austin 6.
Subs not used: Taylor, Yoshida, Olomola.
CHELSEA: Courtois 6; Azpilicueta 8, Luiz 7, Cahill 6; Moses 8 (Ivanovic 87, 6), Kante 7, Matic 7, Alonso 7; Pedro 6 (Willian 78, 6), Diego Costa 8 (Batshuayi 89, 5), Hazard 8.
Subs not used: Begovic, Terry, Chalobah, Oscar, Willian.
Goals: Hazard, Costa.
Southampton boss Claude Puel: "I think we played very well in the first half with so many possibilities and good play.
"But it’s difficult to play against this team when you concede a goal after a few minutes. They can play their game with a strong defence and counter-attack."
Chelsea defender Gary Cahill said:"Southampton's record at home is very good - we knew that.
"But we knew if we carried on our form, we’d cause them problems. We worked hard. Four wins in the league now, four clean sheets – we keep going."
