Premier League, Stamford Bridge - Chelsea 3 (Cahill 52, Terry 62, Ba 89) Southampton 1 (Rodriguez 1).
Chelsea conceded the fastest goal in the Premier League this season but mounted a rousing recovery in the second half with captain John Terry netting on his 400th Premier League appearance in an excellent 3-1 win over Southampton at Stamford Bridge.
A slipshod pass by Michael Essien enabled Jay Rodriguez to slide a shot beyond Petr Cech after only 12 seconds as the visiting side looked comfortable enough holding a 1-0 lead at half-time.
The mood of the match began to change when home coach Jose Mourinho threw on Demba Ba for Essien at the break as Chelseapaired Ba with Fernando Torres up front.
With Frank Lampard impressing after replacing the injured Oscar alongside Ramires in midfield, Chelsea suddenly began to find gaps in the previously unshakable visiting defence and equalised when Gary Cahill forced the ball over the line after Ba had hit the post from aBranislav Ivanovic header.
Southampton goalkeeper Artur Boruc departed due to a hand injury before Chelsea moved 2-1 clear courtesy of John Terry who sent a header looping over substitute keeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
Ba finished matters off with one minute remaining of normal time as he slid the ball beyond Gazzaniga from a superb Ramires cross.
Chelsea move up to second spot in the table, and are back to four points behind leaders Arsenal, who completed a 3-0 win at Cardiff on Saturday.
KEY MOMENTS
1' - RODRIGUEZ POUNCES: Mistake by Essien and Rodriguez bounds into the heart of the Chelsea box before sliding the ball beyond Cech in the home goal. Awful start by Chelsea. Saints lead 1-0.
41' - BORUC STOP: Brilliant diving save by Boruc to claw out the header from Torres. Super cross from Mata to pick out his fellow Spaniard.
55' - CAHILL EQUALISES: Ba hits the post from the Ivanovic header, but Cahill follows into net on the rebound. Chelsea quickest to react. They are level at 1-1.
62' - TERRY POWERS HOME HEADER: Terry comes up with a brilliant header. No chance for the goalkeeper from the Mata cross. A superb goal. Chelsea lead 2-1.
70' - BA SHOT MISSES TARGET: Chance for Ba to finish Saints off, but he slides the shot narrowly wide of goal. A third goal for the home side would surely be enough.
89' - BA COMPLETES THE WIN: Ba slides home the Ramires cross with an expert finish. Brilliant stuff from Chelsea. They lead 3-1.
KEY STATS
Jay Rodriguez (12 secs) equals Southampton's quickest Premier League goal, which was scored by James Beattie in this exact fixture in August 2004. Chelsea came back to win that match 2-1.
Chelsea beat Southampton in the Premier League for the 16th time. Southampton have only lost more PL matches against Man United (21) and Arsenal (17).
Chelsea stretch their unbeaten PL home run to 16 matches, their longest since December 2008-February 2010 (24 matches).
Chelsea remain unbeaten in all 67 PL home matches under Jose Mourinho (W52-D15).
Demba Ba ends a run of 11 PL matches without a goal, since he scored in the 1-0 home win against West Brom in March. His other two PL goals for Chelsea have been scored against Southampton.
TALKING POINT
How important was Jose Mourinho's influence on the match? Very important. Southampton were comfortable in the first half, but the introduction of Demba Ba suddenly unsettled the visiting side, whose defence has been a real strength this season. The manager deserves credit for reading the game, and making the changes that were needed to complete the recovery.
MAN OF THE MATCH
John Terry (Chelsea) - Led by example with a fine goal. And managed to snuff out the Southampton attack alongside Gary Cahill after an unsteady start.
PLAYER RATINGS
Chelsea: Cech 6; Ivanovic 7, Cahill 8, Terry 8, Azpilicueta 7; Essien 5, Ramires 8; Mata 8, Oscar 5, Hazard 7; Torres 6..subs: Mikel 6, Lampard 8, Ba 8
Southampton: Boruc 7, Clyne 6, Fonte 6, Lovren 6, Shaw 6, Wanyama 7, Schneiderlin 6, Ward-Prowse 6, Lallana 6, Rodriguez 7, Osvaldo 6..subs: Gazzaniga 6, Lambert, 6, S. Davis 6
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