Chelsea 1-3 Southampton
by Amar Azam
at Stamford Bridge

ON AN evening of high drama at Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea fell to a humiliating defeat, one that underlined the desperate plight of the Premier League champions. This is Chelsea’s worst start in 37 years.

No-one could argue with the result. Such was the dominance of Ronald Koeman’s Southampton, especially in the second half, that when Graziano Pelle scored the third goal on 72 minutes, Stamford Bridge began to empty as some home supporters decided that they had seen enough.

However, at full-time, boos from a significant amount of those remaining rained down on Chelsea’s players as they walked off following yet another home league defeat.

Manager Jose Mourinho came out firing in an astonishing post-match media conference, blaming the result on poor officiating decisions, and insisting that he would not walk away.

“No way I resign,” responded the under-fire Portuguese. “No way. If the club want to sack me, they have to sack me because I am not running away from my responsibility. Why? Because Chelsea cannot have a better manager than me.”

It is worth recalling that such was the convincing manner of their title victory, that this squad just five months ago was being hailed as one of the greatest teams to win the domestic competition.

With club owner Roman Abramovich having watched the defeat, Mourinho turned his attention to the manner in which Chelsea have dispensed with underperforming managers.

“Every time the results are not good, there has been a change of manager. The power is always, in the end, with the owner and the board,” he added.

“But when I was contacted to come back, I was told: ‘We had so many managers, and we know you are the best.’ So I think it’s time for the club to act in a different way, to mark a position of stability, a position of trust.”

Chelsea began the match well, with Willian putting the side ahead. On the stroke of half-time, Southampton’s Steven Davis equalised for his side.

Sadio Mane put the visitors ahead after the interval as Chelsea struggled to respond. Pelle applied a fine finish to put the victory beyond doubt.

Koeman added: “I am very proud of the players. We came out aggressive in the second half. We had the better chances and totally deserved this win.”