Facts and analysis from Southampton vs Chelsea, using Stats Zone...
Title favourites Chelsea recovered from going a goal down at Southampton, but manager Jose Mourinho may see this as two points dropped after his side controlled the game without threatening Fraser Forster frequently enough.
Saints took the lead in the 17th minute when Graziano Pelle chested the long ball down for Dusan Tadic to release Sadio Mane, who beat Thibaut Courtois with an early shot which turned out to be the home side's only on-target effort. Eden Hazard levelled in first-half stoppage-time, cutting inside to give Chelsea half-time parity and Cesc Fabregas his 13th assist of the season, equalling Steven Gerrard's league-high haul last season.
That was Chelsea's first attempt of any kind - their longest toothless spell in eight seasons - and although they had half a dozen attempts after the break, 4 were blocked and 2 sailed wide as the leaders failed to turn their dominance into goals. Saints dug in well, making 45 tackles and restricting Chelsea to just 5 completed crosses from 38 attempts, and the south coast side go into the New Year still in fourth place - while Chelsea look over their shoulder at Manchester City.
Southampton scored with the first shot on target of the match.
Chelsea conceded a goal for the first time in 299 minutes of Premier League football.
Dusan Tadic collected his seventh Premier League assist, but his first since a hat-trick of assists against Sunderland in October.
Chelsea scored with their first shot in the match; the 45th minute is the longest they have gone without a shot of any attempt since 2006/07.
Eden Hazard’s 11 league goals before today had all come at Stamford Bridge; he netted his first away goal since January at Hull.
Cesc Fabregas collected his 13th assist of the season, setting a new record for most assists in a player’s first 18 games of a season (he has missed one game this term through suspension).
Fabregas has already equalled Steven Gerrard’s league-high haul of 13 assists last season.
Morgan Scheiderlin was sent off for the first time in the Premier League.
There were only 2 shots on target in this game (both scored); the joint-lowest in a Premier League match this season.
Southampton have won just 1 of the last 11 league matches against Chelsea (W1 D4 L6).
Chelsea have lost just 1 of their last 13 away league matches (W8 D4 L1).
Chelsea have won every league game where they've scored 2+ goals this season but 0 of 5 games when they've scored fewer than 2.
Gary Parkinson is a freelance writer, editor, trainer, muso, singer, actor and coach. He spent 14 years at FourFourTwo as the Global Digital Editor and continues to regularly contribute to the magazine and website, including major features on Euro 96, Subbuteo, Robert Maxwell and the inside story of Liverpool's 1990 title win. He is also a Bolton Wanderers fan.
