Southampton captain Jack Stephens was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair as the Premier League’s bottom side was beaten 5-1 by leaders Chelsea.

Defender Stephens was sent off in the 39th minute after pulling Cucurella’s curls in an inexplicable moment of madness.

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.

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.

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca had warned his players they were in for their “toughest game” of the season at Hampshire before making seven changes after Sunday’s impressive 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen 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.

The visitors took the lead when Disasi headed the ball into the goal from a meter away following a corner from Enzo Fernández.

Despite the deficit, Southampton’s start was relatively encouraging and they were rewarded with an 11th-minute equalizer after Aribo took the win. But from that moment on, things went downhill for Martin’s team.

Chelsea got the lead back when an attempted pass from Southampton goalkeeper Joe Lumley to Kyle Walker-Peters was intercepted by Madueke, who slotted in Nkunku and slotted it into the unguarded net.

Fourth-choice goalkeeper Lumley partially redeemed himself by converting an effort from Palmer at the right 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 continued to press and suffered another self-inflicted setback just before half-time when Stephens was sent off following a VAR check following a stupid challenge with Cucurella in the Chelsea penalty area.

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

Palmer ended the Saints’ slim hopes of fighting back with his ninth goal of the season in the 76th minute after Nkunku had done the hard work.

Substitute Sancho raised the mood among the home fans three minutes before the end as the traveling fans chanted “We have our Chelsea back”.