Southampton survived a late Chelsea onslaught as they held onto a 1-1 at Stamford Bridge. After being dumped out of the Champions League on Wednesday, Jose Mourinho’s side were looking to capitalise on Manchester City’s slip up and go eight points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League. But they were denied the opportunity to do so as the Saints remained unbeaten against the Blues this season.
Diego Costa gave the home side the lead early in the first half with his first league goal in almost two months. The Spaniard’s effort was cancelled out by Dusan Tadic soon afterwards as the Serbian converted a controversial penalty. Although the Blues piled on the pressure in the second half, they were unable to break through and had to be content with a point in the end.
Here are the major talking points from the game.
1. Chelsea only have themselves to blame
There are times when you have to say something after the game. And then there are times when you have to simply accept the fact that things didn’t go your way. Unfortunately, the art of not saying anything seems to be lost on Mourinho, who once again called out the referee, albeit not directly, and is likely to face an inspection from the FA once again. But the problem isn’t him, it is his players.
Earlier in the season, they were getting penalties, but their players were also diving looking for penalties. While they got the rub off the green, early on, as the season went on, it looks as though the referees have caught the drift. Now anytime Chelsea don’t actually get a penalty that they deserve, like the one on Branislav Ivanovic in the first half, it is a case of the boy who cried wolf. Ivanovic in particular, has been guilty of that far too often this season. Before he goes on complaining about not getting a penalty, Mourinho would be better served if he spoke to his players about not being overly theatrical whether they have been fouled or not.