Although Joe Aribo equalized shortly after Axel Disasi’s early opener, the Saints lost control of the game before half-time as further goals from Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke were followed by a straight red card for Jack Stephens, leaving Russell Martin’s team two goals behind had and needed to master most of the game with ten players.

They were able to limit the damage for a long time after that, but Cole Palmer and substitute Jadon Sancho added more goals in the closing stages of the game.

Saints coach Martin made four changes to the side that earned a 1-1 draw at Brighton last Friday, three of which came after Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Flynn Downes and Tyler Dibling each made their fifth in the game Yellow cards received during the season had to serve one-game suspensions.

The additional substitution saw Yuki Sugawara dropped to the bench, while Aribo, Ryan Fraser, James Bree and Nathan Wood – making his Premier League debut – made the team.

Nathan Wood made his Premier League debut (Photo: Matt Watson)

Also on the substitutes’ bench was 19-year-old midfielder Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh, making his first appearance in the Premier League squad after making his senior debut in the League Cup win at Cardiff at the start of the season.

With Martin already without Aaron Ramsdale, Jan Bednarek, Adam Lallana and Paul Onuachu due to injury, in addition to some extended absences, and also without midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu, who was unavailable against his parent club, this is a big task for Chelsea team that started the evening third in the table, things were made all the more difficult.

However, it was the Saints who got off to the best start and created a great chance within two minutes when Kyle Walker-Peters was played into space on the left side of the penalty area. His low cross was deflected by a Chelsea defender and directed back into the path of Aribo, who was in a brilliant position about ten meters away, but his shot was blocked off the line by Blues keeper Filip Jørgensen.

The offside flag was subsequently raised against Walker-Peters when he received the ball, but replays suggested that the VAR might have ruled him as a substitute had the ball gone in.

Unfortunately for the Saints, they never found out and just five minutes later they found themselves behind to a frustratingly easy Chelsea goal.

The Blues were under pressure in the early stages but won a corner that Enzo Fernández swung to the near post where Disasi was able to nod the ball in from a yard or two away.

Saints keeper Joe Lumley claimed he was stopped from getting the ball by Marc Cucurella, but his calls for a foul received no response from referee Tony Harrington or VAR.

Nevertheless, the Saints responded almost immediately as they equalized in the 11th minute.

Again it was the connection between Walker-Peters and Aribo that made the difference. Cameron Archer’s pass had marked Walker-Peters’ run towards the byline and the full-back’s clever spin led to the retreating Fernández firing a shot, giving him space to cut back to Aribo, who this time met the ball No mistake with a cool finish with his left foot.

Joe Aribo celebrates the 1:1 (Photo: Matt Watson)

At this point the Saints were looking strong and posing a real threat to Chelsea, but they were unable to continue and fell behind again, conceding a poor goal in the 17th minute.

There appeared to be little cause for concern when Wood played the ball back to Lumley just outside his penalty area, but his subsequent pass forward towards Walker-Peters was stolen by the lightning-quick Madueke, who then passed a pass to Nkunku, who took it had managed the simple task of hitting an empty goal from 18 meters away.

Things could have quickly gotten much worse for Saints from there.

First, Lumley had to parry one-on-one from Madueke after he fought his way through from an angle, before João Félix shot narrowly wide from 18 meters.

Lumley then had to make an impressive save to deny Palmer, directing his shot onto the post after being sent clean through by a sharp diagonal ball from João Félix. And from the resulting corner, Tosin Adarabioyo shot a header over the crossbar.

It felt like a third goal was coming, and it did come in the 34th minute when Madueke fired a low shot from inside the box into the far corner.

After Nkunku then headed just over, Saints’ evening got even worse with the dismissal of captain Stephens, who was given a straight red card for violent behavior after referee Harrington was sent to the pitchside monitor to check on the defender Cucurella pulled her hair.

Jack Stephens reacts to his sending off (Photo: Matt Watson)

That was to be the final setback of the first half, although shortly into the second half the Saints were lucky not to suffer another setback when Palmer’s cross to the back post found João Félix alone at the corner of the six-yard box, but luckily went his header into the far corner.

However, it was a sign of things to come as Chelsea continued to attack.

In the 53rd minute, Adarabioyo fired a shot from six meters onto the post, and a minute later it would have been four had Ryan Manning not intervened at the very last minute to prevent Madueke from firing into an empty net after Lumley had one Ball fended off Palmer shot.

Still, the Saints were dangerous when they got the ball forward and perhaps they should have made it 3-2 when Aribo’s great move found Mateus Fernandes in space around the penalty spot, only for his low shot to be saved through the legs of Jørgensen.

Martin’s first substitutions came just after the hour mark when Ben Brereton Díaz and Kamaldeen came on for Adam Armstrong and Fraser.

The Saints still posed a threat when they could, but so did Chelsea, and Lumley had to make a good stop with his right foot in the 65th minute to deny Madueke his second shot of the evening before four Minutes later he parried again from close range in front of him.

Archer then left Sugawara as Martin made another substitution before the visitors scored their fourth goal.

It took 77 minutes as Fernández played through Nkunku, who turned and shot past Lumley, while Palmer added the finishing touches as the ball slowly rolled towards goal.

And there was time for Chelsea to score again as Sancho scored their fifth goal in the 87th minute to make the score 1-0.

Southampton: Lumley, Bree (Edwards 78), Stephens (captain), Wood, Walker-Peters, Manning, Fernandes (Taylor 79), Aribo, Fraser (Kamaldeen 62), Armstrong (Brereton Díaz 62), Archer (Sugawara 72).

Substitutes not used: McCarthy, Cornet, O’Brien-Whitmarsh, Amo-Ameyaw.

Goals: Aribo (11′).

Yellow cards: Armstrong.

Red cards: Stephens.

Chelsea: Jørgensen, Gusto, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Cucurella (Veiga 79), Fernández (captain), Caicedo, Madueke (Sancho 72), Palmer (Dewsbury-Hall 79), João Félix, Nkunku.

Substitutes not used: Sanchez, Badiashile, Colwill, Neto, Jackson, Lavia.

Goals: Disasi (7′), Nkunku (17′), Madueke (34′), Palmer (77′), Sancho (87′).

Referee: Tony Harrington.

Participation: 31,193.