- Giroud jumps off bench, scores twice
- Southampton blow 2-0 lead
- Chelsea close gap on top four to seven points
Chelsea fought back from 2-0 down to beat Southampton 3-2 on Saturday at St Mary’s as the Blues scored three goals in eight minutes to turn the game on its head.
Saints went 1-0 up through Dusan Tadic, then Jan Bednarek doubled the lead on his Premier League debut as the home side looked to be powering to victory. Then Olivier Giroud rescued Chelsea off the bench as he pulled one back, before Eden Hazard equalized and then Giroud scored the winner.
The victory has Chelsea seven points off the top four, while Saints remain in the bottom three after their stunning collapse as they’ve now lost all three games under Mark Hughes.
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Saints started the game well and were rewarded after a fine piece of play from Ryan Bertrand.
The former Chelsea left back surged forward from left back and kept his composure brilliantly to pick out Tadic to finish. 1-0 to the Saints.
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Chelsea improved as the first half wore on with a corner almost catching out Alex McCarthy but he clawed it away well.
Southampton were dangerous on the break with Shane Long’s pace as James Ward-Prowse forced a good stop out of Thibaut Courtois but Chelsea had plenty of possession but couldn’t break down a stubborn Saints defense in the first half.
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After a nasty tackle from Marcos Alonso on Long just before half time, Long went close after the break as he raced clear, turned Andreas Christensen but his looping shot was touched over by Courtois.
At the other end Chelsea started to click through the gears as McCarthy spilled a low shot then palmed an effort from Eden Hazard wide at the near post. Saints then made it 2-0 as Ward-Prowse fine free kick from the right picked out Bednarek at the back post and he finished superbly on his Premier League debut to send St Mary’s wild.
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2 - Chelsea have won a Premier League game from two goals down for the first time since August 2002 under Claudio Ranieri (3-2 v Charlton). Throwback. pic.twitter.com/k7HefQS0Fi
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 14, 2018
Then Chelsea came roaring back.
First Giroud flicked in a header with 20 minutes to go after jumping off the bench, then Hazard made it 2-2 soon after as Southampton imploded.
Giroud then drilled home a fine low finish to cap a stunning period of three goals in eight minutes for Chelsea as the Blues grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat.