Chelsea have increased their lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points courtesy of a 4-2 victory over Southampton at Stamford Bridge this evening.
The hosts took the lead after just five minutes through the returning Eden Hazard, but Southampton were behind for less than 20 minutes before Oriol Romeu levelled things up to add another twist in the title race.
Gary Cahill's goal right on the stroke of half time sent Chelsea into the break ahead, though, and a second-half brace from Diego Costa - including his 50th goal in the Premier League - ensured that the Blues would pile the pressure back on Tottenham Hotspur.
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Ryan Bertrand added a stoppage-time consolation for the visitors, but it was too little too late for the Saints and all eyes on the title race will now turn to Selhurst Park, where Tottenham take on in-form Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening.
Having beaten Spurs to reach the final of the FA Cup on Saturday, Chelsea struck another blow to their London rivals with victory by the same scoreline, although they didn't have things all their own way against the Saints for much of tonight's match.
Any nervous tension at Stamford Bridge following two defeats already in April was eased after just five minutes when the hosts took the lead through the in-form Hazard, who drove Costa's layoff into the bottom corner for his 15th Premier League goal of the season - his best ever tally in the competition.
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It was a firm response from both players to being dropped to the bench for the FA Cup win over Spurs, and the pair almost combined for another later in the half when Costa nudged the ball into the path of Hazard, only for the Belgian to this time curl his finish high and wide.
While the front two looked sharp, the rest of the Chelsea team were struggling to assert their authority over Southampton and the Saints deservedly equalised midway through the first half to make it 11 matches without a Premier League clean sheet for the hosts - their worst run in more than 20 years.
Cesar Azpilicueta was only able to flick a corner onto the back post where Manolo Gabbiadini was waiting unmarked, and the Italian's effort from a tight angle was pushed into the path of Romeu by Thibaut Courtois, allowing the Southampton midfielder to bundle home the rebound against his former club.
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An out-of-sorts Chelsea struggled to conjure up a response to that setback until newly-crowned PFA Player of the Year N'Golo Kante burst into life with a brilliant run down the right flank that eventually ended with Nemanja Matic firing a deflected shot wide from just outside the area.
The hosts regularly struggled to defend Southampton corners and gave up another chance via that route with only three minutes remaining until half time, but Sofiane Boufal could only slam his finish into the side-netting from a tight angle.
It was from a corner that Chelsea got the game-changing goal in first-half stoppage time, hoisting the ball back into the box after the initial delivery had been cleared. That allowed Marcos Alonso to nod it into the middle from the back post, and Cahill was there to steer a commanding header into the bottom corner.
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The goal provided a positive end to a largely difficult half for Antonio Conte's side, and that seemed to set them at ease upon the restart.
Indeed, it took them just nine minutes to add a third goal in the second half as Costa held off Bertrand to nod Cesc Fabregas's cross past Fraser Forster and bring up his half-century of Premier League goals from just 85 matches.
Courtois was called into a smart save shortly afterwards to keep his side's two-goal lead intact, tipping a low effort from Dusan Tadic past the post, but Southampton's best sights of goal continued to come via corners and Gabbiadini put an off-balance effort into the side-netting with 20 minutes remaining.
It was Chelsea who looked most likely to add the game's fifth goal, though, and Kante almost crowned his individual award by getting it, only to be denied by a fine one-on-one save by Forster.
Pedro then fired another effort wide as Chelsea continued to pour forward, and the hosts were finally rewarded with a stylish fourth as Costa exchanged passes with Hazard and then Pedro before slotting his finish past the Southampton keeper from inside the box.
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Conte had given departing captain John Terry a rare cameo in the closing stages, much to the delight of the home fans, but the former England international could not prevent Southampton from grabbing a late consolation goal when Bertrand glanced a cross from Cedric Soares into the far corner.
The hosts had already done enough to take another step towards the Premier League title by that point, increasing their lead at the top of the table to seven points for 24 hours at least, with Spurs in action tomorrow night.
Chelsea's next match comes away to Everton, meanwhile, whereas Southampton will host relegation-threatened Hull City on Saturday looking to end a run of back-to-back defeats.
Barney Corkhill
