By Martin Rowe
Saints were knocked out of the FA Cup after a 5-1 home defeat at the hands of Chelsea.
Both sides made a few changes from their original line ups with Southampton resting Rickie Lambert and Gaston Ramirez, while Chelsea dropped Frank Lampard to the bench and rested Fernando Torres allowing them to bring in Demba Ba in attack – the Senegalese striker signed from Newcastle on Friday.
It was the Saints who started brightly when a delicious pass by Jason Puncheon found Jay Rodriguez who coolly finished to give the Saints the lead in the thrd round tie.
Chelsea were stunned but the Blues found an opening for Juan Mata to just peel clear and clip the ball over the goalkeeper, Demba Ba made sure the ball ended in the back of the net.
And they were quick to turn the game on its head when Eden Hazard teed up Victor Moses who finished well to give the cup holders the lead.
Early in the second half Juan Mata found space and crossed for Branislav Ivanovic to make it 3-1 in the 52nd minute.
And nine minutes later, Eden Hazard crossed low for Demba Ba to grab his second of the game and put the match beyond doubt.
The second half saw the Saints give chances to some ‘fringe’ players with the introduction of Steve de Ridder and Tadanari Lee but it was Chelsea’s substitutes who made the greater impacts.
Frank Lampard – who came on for Branislav Ivanovic, converted a penalty to make it 5-1.
That goal means the midfielder is now Chelsea’s joint second top scorer with Kerry Dixon on 193 goals.
The win means Chelsea eased into the next round whilst the Saints are out at the first hurdle, but more focus will be on the league games that lie ahead.