Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl pinpoints reason Chelsea defeated his team

Ralph Hasenhuttl has identified lack of confidence as a major problem among his players after the struggling Saints were swept aside by Chelsea in the Premier League.

The Blues defeated the Saints 4-1 after Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Michy Batshuayi scored as Chelsea ran riot at St. Mary’s Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The home defeat to Chelsea was a hugely disappointing afternoon for the home team as Saints were barely able to compete with Frank Lampard’s side.

There were worrying signs for Hasenhuttl as the individual errors which have dogged Saints in recent times returned, while the manager also admitted his team were not competitive enough across the pitch.

After the match, Hasenhuttl, speaking to Match of the Day, said: “We started well but to be honest we are far away from our best, and against the best opponents you only have the chance to take something if you play your best.

“We were too slow in our minds, too slow on the ball. They showed us every weakness we had and we have a lot of them at the moment.

“When they build up from behind and score we must say ‘OK’, but to give the chances we did against such an opponent, you cannot handle it. That was the reason we were 3-1 down in the first half. Second half was a little better but not really, we never had the chance to come back.

“We know it is a tough situation, but we must work really hard and that’s what we will do.”

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

How Batshuayi, Azpilicueta, Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham, other Chelsea stars celebrated their victory over Southampton on social media

Goals by Tammy Abraham, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount and Michy Batshuayi were all Chelsea needed to claim the three points against Southampton.

The visitors to St Mary’s took the lead on 17 minutes as Abraham was sent through by Callum Hudson-Odoi and lobbed in for his eighth goal of the season.

Seven minutes later Mason Mount doubled the lead, but Danny Ings halved the deficit on the half-hour, guiding in Yan Valery’s cross.

N’Golo Kante’s deflected shot restored Chelsea’s two-goal advantage before the break.

Angus Gunn denied Hudson-Odoi early in the second half but could not stop Michy Batshuayi adding a late fourth after he combined with fellow substitute Christian Pulisic.

Chelsea rise to fifth, on 14 points.

Chelsea stars took to the social media to celebrate their 4-1 win at St. Mary’s:

César Azpilicueta@CesarAzpi
3 big points before the international break💪🏻💙 Fans were class as always 🙌🏻🙌🏻 #KTBFFH

Callum Hudson-Odoi@Calteck10
Another massive 3 points and a solid team performance, happy to get another assist!!!🔵🔥

kepa Arrizabalaga@kepa_46
Great 3 points and a good week for us before the international break! Come on @chelseafc

Mason Mount@masonmount_10
Great performance going into the international break. Happy to get on the scoresheet once again! 💙👊🏼 #CFC

Tammy Abraham@tammyabraham
Thank you travelling fans 💙 another 3 points 3️⃣⚽️ enjoyed that one 🤩

Michy Batshuayi @mbatshuayi
Linkup 💯 Batsman x Captain America 💙 #KPTBFFH

Willian@willianborges88
A great team performance today! Fourth win in a row. We have to keep working hard because there is still a lot to improve! Come on Chelsea!!!💪🏿💙
Grande trabalho em equipe hoje! Quatro vitórias em sequência. Vamos seguir trabalhando forte, pois ainda há muito a melhorar!💪🏿💙

Mateo Kovačić@Mateo_Kova23
And now we can go to #internationalbreak 🇭🇷
⚽⚽⚽⚽ #FourthWinInARow #whatagame @chelseafc💪💙

Photo Credit: Twitter @chelseafc.com

Half-Time Report: Inter Milan 1-1 Juventus… Cristiano Ronaldo hits crossbar, goal disallowed

Inter and Juventus are 1-1 at half-time in a pulsating, spectacular Derby d’Italia, as Paulo Dybala’s opener was cancelled out by a Lautaro Martinez penalty.

This was the Derby d’Italia, a top of the table showdown, the first time Antonio Conte faced his former club and an early Scudetto clash.

Romelu Lukaku shook off a muscular problem to start, with Danilo D’Ambrosio picked instead of Antonio Candreva and Alexis Sanchez suspended. Juve missed Giorgio Chiellini, Danilo, Mattia De Sciglio, Douglas Costa and Marko Pjaca, but Maurizio Sarri surprised by choosing Dybala and Federico Bernardeschi instead of Gonzalo Higuain and Aaron Ramsey.

The visitors immediately had an aggressive start and took the lead within four minutes, as Dybala rushed forward from midfield and smashed his angled drive between Milan Skriniar’s legs to surprise Samir Handanovic.

Incredibly, this was the first time Inter had been trailing in Serie A this season, the first goal conceded at San Siro, the first let

It was end to end from the get-go, as Cristiano Ronaldo unleashed a scorcher from the edge of the box that smashed against the crossbar.

Moments later Lautaro Martinez sent Lukaku one-on-one with Leonardo Bonucci, but the defender stood his ground.

Inter were awarded a penalty when Matthijs de Ligt went in clumsily to anticipate Lautaro Martinez and made contact with his arm. Lautaro stepped up and converted the resulting penalty, drilling it under Wojciech Szczesny’s arm at the near bottom corner.

Lautaro Martinez almost scored a spectacular strike from a tough angle, as the half-volley was dipping and Szczesny flew to palm it away from the far top corner.

Inter lost Stefano Sensi to a groin injury, making way for Matias Vecino. Juan Cuadrado’s almost suicidal back-pass flashed in front of Lautaro Martinez and Ronaldo’s rocket was beaten away with real difficulty by Handanovic.

Moments later, Ronaldo had the ball in the back of the net with a daisy-cutter, but Dybala was offside during the build-up and it was disallowed.

With the final kick of the half, Dybala went down in the box after nutmegging Godin, but the referee waved play on. A row broke out in the tunnel on the way off for half-time, with Dybala and substitute goalkeeper Daniele Padelli arguing.

Inter: Handanovic; Godin, De Vrij, Skriniar; D’Ambrosio, Barella, Brozovic, Sensi (Vecino 33), Asamoah; R Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez

Juventus: Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt, Alex Sandro; Khedira, Pjanic, Matuidi; Bernardeschi; Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo

(WATCH VIDEO) David Luiz scores his first Arsenal goal

Former Chelsea defender has scored his first official goal in Arsenal shirt in a Premier League match against Bournemouth today at the Emirates.

David Luiz rose the highest to nod in Nicolas Pepe’s corner to give the Gunners an early lead at the Emirates Stadium.

Cherries star Callum Wilson was blamed for not marking the Brazilian,

Luiz and Pepe have come under criticism for poor performances so far this season, with Pepe especially struggling to adapt to the intensity of Premier League football, scoring just one goal from the penalty spot so far this season.

Coincidentally, the defender’s goal was all the Gunners needed to claim the three points against the Cherries.

Photo Credit: Twitter @premierleague.com

Half-Time Report: Blues in control at St. Mary’s… Southampton 1-3 Chelsea

It has been an entertaining first half but hardly a masterclass of defending, with Southampton looking very shaky at the back, allowing goals by Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante to put Chelsea in firm control.

But the Blues have also had their moments to forget, with Danny Ings pulling the score back to 2-1.

Southampton have played pretty well, while Chelsea haven’t played especially well, but they’re so confident going forward and will expect to score a few more in the second half.

Kante’s deflected goal took a big deflection off Hojbjerg and beats the helpless Gunn in goal.

Ings almost scored his second goals just minutes after Kante scored. Tomori made another error at the back with an inaccurate pass and Ings only had Kepa to beat.

He squeezed it past the Spaniard, but Jorginho brilliantly to hacked it clear off the line.

Photo Credit: Twitter @chelseafc.com

REVEALED: How Agnelli family blocked Antonio Conte’s return to Juventus after his Chelsea stint

FIFA Council member Evelina Christillin has revealed that Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte “wanted a return to Juventus, but the Agnelli family put a veto on it.”

Conte was criticised for choosing to join their arch-rivals, having represented Juve as both a player and a Coach, with 15,000 fans signing a petition calling for his star to be removed from the Walk of Fame.

The former Chelsea boss would have been in the saddle now at the Turin club after Max Allegri left the Old Lady in the summer.

“We know Conte wanted a return to Juventus, but there were some very precise vetoes on his comeback. Let’s just say it was the family and the club that blocked it,” Christillin told the Corriere di Torino newspaper as cited by Football Italia.

She is a business mogul in Turin, a long-time associate of the Agnelli family and a member of the FIFA Council since 2006.

“Conte is one of the best, he can get blood from a stone, even if now he’s working with a lot more than stones. I saw Inter’s performance against Barcelona and they played a superb match for 60 minutes.

“Conte is a symbol of Juve and Beppe Marotta was also an important figure in the Bianconeri history of the last few years. Our affection for them is unchanged, even if for a day they will be at least a little bit ‘enemies’ too.”

The Coach was furious at the idea of removing his star from the Allianz Juventus Stadium Walk of Fame.

“That would be entirely stupid, we have only to thank him and those who helped bring success to the club,” added Christillin.

“Of course Conte can win the Scudetto with Inter – the man took Italy to the European Championship quarter-finals with Simone Zaza and Graziano Pellè.”