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Publication date: Saturday, October 17, 2020 4:58 AM
Chelsea had to mourn further instances of chaotic defense as Southampton fought back to secure a 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues welcomed Christian Pulisic back to the starting lineup, and with Werner Chosen to spearhead the attack, Chelsea’s eleven looked a lot like what boss Frank Lampard will have had in mind after a successful summer transfer window.
Unsurprisingly, Chelsea started the game quicker of the two teams and it took just three minutes to seize the first scoring opportunity of the match.
The ball broke to Ben Chilwell loitering on the left, who fired a low cross shot that forced Alex McCarthy into a dive. The rebound fell directly on Kai Havertz, but McCarthy once again lived up to the resulting effort from the German.
Chilwell again continued to cause trouble for Saints, with his precise cross and then finding Timo Werner after escaping from his marker.
His header proved too hot for McCarthy, but the flag went offside, much to Southampton’s relief.
The pardon was short-lived, however, when Werner broke the deadlock moments later.
An excellent dummy to himself he opened a pocket of space before leading the Saints defense. a series of taps to drift inward creating a line of fire and the shooter made no mistake by passing a low drive past McCarthy to make it 1-0.
The 24-year-old appeared to be enjoying the role of center forward after a string of open appearances, and he quickly doubled his tally with another excellent center-forward piece of play.
Jorginho put Werner behind the Saints’ backline, with Werner tossing the ball over the stranded goalie before heading into the empty net without interrupting his stride.
Two could have turned into three for both Chelsea and Werner just before the break, but the forward’s effort from an increasingly sharp angle shot high and wide.
As the break drew near, Chelsea gave Southampton a lifeline after sloppy play by Havertz coughed up possession deep in their own half.
The ball quickly passed to Danny Ings, who circled Kepa with ease and hit the plate to cut the deficit to one.
Danny Ings has already scored 11 Premier League goals since competition resumed in June, more than any other player in the competition.
A characteristic finish of Ings. ™ ️ pic.twitter.com/4pL0Kc0T4I
– Squawka Soccer (@Squawka) October 17, 2020
Southampton emerged with renewed vigor in the second half and regained parity on a goal that defied belief.
Kurt Zouma’s slight backward pass gave Che Adams a chance to enter, and the forward easily evaded the attacking Kepa.
Adams’s cut from an acute angle was blocked by Azpilicueta in hasty retreat, but Kepa’s attempts to resolve the situation did more harm than good.
Adams was finally able to sweep the ball high on the roof of the net after the goalkeeper’s comical attempts to clear the ball resulted in the ball coming back into play from the wood.
Chelsea responded almost immediately, with Werner this time becoming a supplier.
The German ran towards the goal before facing Havertz, who had the simple task of hitting the ball into the empty net.
Lampard handed Hakim Ziyech his debut off the bench as he looked for more goals to put the match to bed.
Havertz could have done exactly that with 15 minutes to go, but couldn’t rise high enough when his unmarked header from a corner flew over the crossbar.
That failure would prove costly, as Jannik Vestergaard looked at Theo Walcott’s effort past Kepa in overtime to ensure both sides had to settle for a draw.
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