Chelsea roared back to form as two goals each by Timo Werner and Mason Mount and first half strikes by Marcos Alonso and Kai Havertz sealed a 6-0 Premier League win over Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday.
Chelsea went up 1-0 in the eighth minute as Alonso ran on to a deft flick by Mount and blasted in his first league goal since the opening day of the campaign.
Mount, Chelsea’s leading scorer in the league this season, equalled his tally of nine goals from the previous campaign with a superb shot from outside the box after Southampton’s shaky defence failed to deal with Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s cross.
Southampton’s implosion continued as Werner made up for his earlier misses by beating Jan Bednarek for pace before rounding Fraser Forster and finishing into an empty net. Havertz then swept in Chelsea’s fourth after Werner hit the post again.
A relentless Chelsea were rewarded again after the break as Werner tapped in a rebound from N’Golo Kante’s effort which was saved by Forster. Mount completed the rout with another simple finish in the 54th minute.
It was the perfect tonic for the European champions, who were beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid in the opening leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday after being thrashed 4-1 by Brentford last weekend following the international break.
Brighton meanwhile ended a seven-match winless run in the Premier League with a shock 2-1 victory at top-four chasing Arsenal after Zambian midfielder Enock Mwepu scored one goal and created another.
Brighton opened the scoring when a long ball found Mwepu on Xhaka’s flank and with the Swiss international further upfield, Mwepu found space for a cutback to Leandro Trossard whose curling effort sailed past goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
A change in formation gave Arsenal hope in the second half but it was quickly snuffed out when Mwepu drilled a half-volley from the edge of the box into the back of the net.
Martin Odegaard halved the deficit in the 89th minute with a hopeful long-range shot that took a wicked deflection and looped over goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to give Arsenal a lifeline, but Brighton held on.
A revitalised Leeds meanwhile took a big step towards Premier League survival with a 3-0 victory over Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday, dealing another blow to the hosts’ dwindling hopes of staying in the top flight.
Relegation-threatened Watford needed a win after Everton beat Manchester United earlier on Saturday to distance themselves from the drop zone but goals from Raphinha, Rodrigo and Jack Harrison condemned them to a ninth straight home defeat.
REUTERS