Frank Lampard says his Blues side can get “a lot better.”This after they swept past Southampton to move up to the fifth in the Premier League.
“Tammy’s performance was great. His all-round performance and his work off the ball were amazing. But I must say, I thought Willian was immense-he was an example in what he was doing on and off the ball.”
“He is a leader-not one that shouts-but in how he performs,” Lampard commented.
Tammy Abraham’s looping finish from Callum Hudson-Odoi’s pass gave the visitors the lead before Mason Mount doubled Chelsea’s advantage from close range.
Danny reduced the arrears from Yan Valery’s cut-back, but N’Golo Kante’s deflected effort off Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Michy Batshuayi’s neat finish put the seal on a comfortable victory of Lampard’s side.
“I don’t think we started that will. Even though doing so had been something we’d talked about before.” Said the former England midfielder.
“Abraham’s goal came at the right time and after that, I felt pretty comfortable. Getting four away from home-we are scoring. It was a nice afternoon.”
What’s up with Chelsea?
After a stuttering start to the campaign, there are signs that this youthful Chelsea side is beginning to build up ahead of steam under Lampard.
This marked the Blues’ fourth successive win in all competitions. A result which lifts them level on points with fourth-placed Leicester City and only two behind champions Manchester City who lost 2-0 at home to Wolves.
The youngsters, Abraham and Mount have taken the top flight by storm after spending last season on loan at Aston Villa and Derby County respectively.
Hudson-Odoi, making his first League start under Lampard sent a long ball over the top of the Southampton defense. Abraham was first to it. Looping finish over Gunn crossing and crossing the line before Yoshida could clear the ball to safety.
Chelsea capitalized on a poor piece of Southampton defending to double their lead. Seven minutes later, Mount latching on to Willian’s precise pass before slamming home his fourth goal of the campaign.
There was an element of fortune about Chelsea’s third goal. Kante’s speculative drive deflecting off Hojbjerg and wrong-footing Gunn-but the dominant visitors could have won by a higher margin.
Hudson-Odoi was thwarted by Gunn four minutes after the restart before Batshuayi eventually completed the scoring in the final minute of normal time with a confident finish from Christian Pulisic’s through-ball.
Southampton manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl made his comment on the match. He said, “We started well but to be honest, we are far away from our best. Against the best opponents, you only have the chance to take something if you play your best.”