Southampton vs. Chelsea: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Chelsea are now 11 games unbeaten in the Premier League after coming from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 on Saturday.
Southampton took the lead in the 42nd minute as Shane Long pounced on an error by Baba Rahman and fired the opener past Thibaut Courtois. But the visitors turned the match around with second-half goals from Cesc Fabregas and Branislav Ivanovic, with the latter heading in the winner in the 89th minute.
The win took Chelsea up to 11th place on 36 points. Southampton fell to seventh with 40 points.
Here, Bleacher Report selects winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Branislav Ivanovic
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The 2015-16 season has been anything but easy for Branislav Ivanovic. Like many of his teammates, the Serbian defender has struggled at times, especially in the first half of the campaign. On Saturday, however, he scored an important winner for his side.
In the 89th minute, Willian whipped a corner into the box from the right as Chelsea looked for a go-ahead goal. Ivanovic rose above Virgil van Dijk and powered a low header into the net past Fraser Forster.
It turned out to be the winner, and it gave Chelsea a first come-from-behind victory in the league this season. After being the object of many fans' fury for months, Ivanovic bagged a crucial strike for the Blues.
Scoring an 89th-minute winner while filling in for the injured John Terry: Not a bad day at all.
Loser: Baba Rahman
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Chelsea fell behind late in the first half immediately after Baba Rahman committed a big error.
There seemed to be no danger at all when the ball came to Rahman in Chelsea's half in the 42nd minute, but the 21-year-old headed straight into the path of Southampton's Shane Long. After steaming into the box, Long chipped Thibaut Courtois to give the Saints a 1-0 halftime lead.
Rahman had little time to atone for his error, as he made way for Kenedy at the break. At 21, however, he has time on his side. He must learn from this.
Winner: Shane Long
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Even after Rahman headed the ball straight to him, Shane Long had plenty of work to do if he wanted to score a goal. Fortunately for Southampton, the Irishman did everything perfectly.
Without a split-second of hesitation, Long pounced on the mistake and stole into the box with lightning quickness. Then, as Courtois came off his line, the Saints' striker dinked a perfect shot into the net for the opener.
It all looked so easy, but it wasn't simple at all. Long's calmness in the box was a massive boost for Southampton, but his lone goal wasn't quite enough in the end.
Loser: Diego Costa
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Life under Guus Hiddink has been mostly positive for Diego Costa. As Opta noted ahead of kickoff, the Spain international had netted seven goals in his previous eight Premier League appearances.
That trend did not continue against Southampton, and Costa was unable to hide his frustration. Kept under wraps for most of the game by Virgil van Dijk, Costa nearly allowed his emotions to boil over in the second half following a series of confrontations with the Dutch defender.
To his credit, the Chelsea man kept his composure and continued to work hard. However, he never was able to find a way past Van Dijk and the rest of Southampton's back line.
Better days undoubtedly await, but this wasn't Costa's finest hour.
Winner: Fraser Forster
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Yes, Fraser Forster allowed two goals and really should have done better with Cesc Fabregas' equalizer. However, the English goalkeeper set a new Southampton top-flight record in the first half by reaching his 667th consecutive minute of scoreless football, as noted by the club's official Twitter account.
The streak reached 708 minutes before Chelsea finally scored, and although Forster will be unhappy with the manner in which he conceded that goal, he should be proud of his accomplishment nonetheless.
Loser: Martin Atkinson
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Chelsea dominated the second half and probably deserved to win based on the number of chances they created. However, controversy surrounded the Blues' equalizer, which Cesc Fabregas scored in the 75th minute.
In the build-up to the goal, the referee's assistant raised his flag for a foul against Kenedy on Southampton's Cedric Soares. Referee Martin Atkinson waved play on and Fabregas eventually curled his cross-shot past Forster to make it 1-1.
Afterwards, Southampton boss Ronald Koeman was livid.
"I don't understand that. The linesman is the closest to the situation," he told BBC Sport. "If it is a foul by Kenedy then you have to listen to the linesman. That's why you have linesmen—to help you."
For his part, Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink came down with a case of Arsene Wenger-itis.
"I haven't seen it and if I see it I'll give it my fair view," he said. "But there are many duels and referees in England usually let a lot of duels go."
In this case, Koeman is right. It was a foul. Atkinson should have listened to his assistant, who had the best view of the incident.
