Southampton 1-1 Chelsea: Mason Mount earns Blues point as Saints halt losing run
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Updated 20/02/2021 at 14:43 GMT
Premier League, St Mary’s – Southampton 1 (Minamino 33’) Chelsea 1 (Mount 54’ pen)
Mason Mount celebrates
Image credit: Getty Images
Mason Mount’s second-half penalty earned Chelsea a 1-1 draw at Southampton as the Saints’ six-game Premier League losing streak came to an end.
Chelsea dominated right from the off, but for all their possession they created very little in the first half, and their wastefulness with the ball was punished as Takumi Minamino coolly put Saints in front in the 33rd minute – the first goal scored by an opponent against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.
The visitors were gifted the chance to get back into the game after Danny Ings’ clumsy tackle on Mount earned Chelsea a penalty, with Mount stepping up to slot home in the 54th minute.
With Saints sitting deep, Tuchel will be disappointed his side could not secure all three points, as Chelsea stay fourth and Saints climb to 13th.
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Takumi Minamino (left) celebrates Saints' opener
Image credit: Getty Images
Tuchel brought Edouard Mendy back into the side, but the Blues goalkeeper was a mere bystander for much of the first half, with the Blues having 72.5 per cent possession in the opening period.
But all that possession is no use if you don’t do much with it, with only one team creating that killer chance - Nathan Redmond’s pass scything through Chelsea before Minamino threw two dummies, put Mendy on the deck, before slotting home his second goal since joining on loan from Liverpool.
Saints have capitulated in several of their recent defeats and were again pegged back after the break as Mount, in the absence of regular penalty taker Jorginho, stepped up to level.
From there, you would have expected Chelsea to go on and win the match, but that killer pass eluded them, meaning they could finish the weekend behind West Ham, should the Hammers beat Tottenham at home on Sunday.
TALKING POINT – Werner is still lacking something
When he finally ended his long Premier League goalscoring drought against Newcastle last time out, you perhaps thought Timo Werner had turned the corner. However, another disappointing showing at Saints, where he was again wasteful despite getting into some good positions, means it is back to square one for the German.
Werner has a wealth of talent, but he just needs to find consistency. No easy task, it seems.
MAN OF THE MATCH – Mason Mount (Chelsea)
When Tuchel came in, many feared for Mount, but instead the England international has become the beating heart of the Chelsea machine. He was the only man in blue at St Mary’s who looked capable of getting something out of the match for his side.
PLAYER RATINGS
Southampton: McCarthy 7, Bertrand 6, Vestergaard 7, Bednarek 7, Salisu 8, Djenepo 8, Romeu 6, Ward-Prowse 6, Redmond 6, Ings 6, Minamino 7. Subs: Adams N/A, Tella N/A.
Chelsea: Mendy 6, Alonso 6, Rudiger 6, Zouma 6, Azpilicueta 6, James 6, Kante 6, Kovacic 6, Mount 8, Abraham 5, Werner 5. Subs: Jorginho 6, Hudson-Odoi 6, Ziyech 6.
KEY MOMENTS
6’ - CHANCE! Big opportunity for Marcos Alonso here. James picks him out at the far post, Alonso arrives to meet it on the volley, but he drags his effort wide.
33’ - GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Chelsea (Minamino): Despite all of Chelsea's possession Takumi Minamino finishes brilliantly to give the home side the lead. How has this happened? Chelsea were split open far too easily by Redmond's pass, but the finish was cool as you like from Minamino, who put Mendy on the deck before slotting home. His second goal since joining on loan from Liverpool.
40’ - SAVE! Alonso whips a free-kick into the middle, Zouma meets it, heads for goal, but McCarthy gets down well to make the save.
53’ - PENALTY! Clumsy tackle from Ings on Mount and it is a penalty to the visitors.
54’ - GOAL! Southampton 1-1 Chelsea (Mount): Mount, in the absence of Jorginho, slots home calmly to level things up. A big moment for a Portsmouth fan!
72’ - CROSSBAR! Ball in from Redmond is looped towards goal by the head of Vestergaard, Mendy is rooted to the floor, but the ball comes out off the crossbar.
85’ - CHANCE! Super stuff from Mount again to create the chance for James, but the wing-back blazes over from a good position.
KEY STATS
- Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is the 16th manager in Premier League history to avoid defeat in his first six games in the competition (W4 D2) and the first since Maurizio Sarri in September 2018, also with the Blues.
- Southampton have lost 18 points from leading positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other side.
- Chelsea are unbeaten in three away league games (W2 D1) after losing four of the five before that (W1).
- Southampton conceded their fifth penalty goal of the league season; only in 1993-94 and 2016-17 (both six) did the Saints concede more goals from the spot in a Premier League campaign.
- Southampton’s Takumi Minamino became the first opposition player to score against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea in all competitions, ending a run of 572 minutes without such a goal for the German manager (Antonio Rüdiger scored an own-goal in game v Sheffield United).
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