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Saints At Chelsea The Verdict

Saints have waited nearly 14 years since the last win at Chelsea in the Premier League and it was made all the sweeter by the childish behavior of their manager after the game.

The first thing that football supporters realised and the very last thing that Jose Mourinho would actually acknowledge is that Saints thoroughly deserved this win, they gained it not by luck or poor refereeing decisions but by the spirited performance the their own managers tactical nous.

Indeed if anyone had reason to point the finger at the referee it would be Saints not Chelsea, although Robert Madley got it spot on when he correctly decided that Falcao was diving when he went over Maarten Stekelenburg, he did fail to spot that Virgil Van Dijk nearly had the shirt torn from his back in one incident in the area and that Sadio Mane had been brought down in another. So if anyone had cause to be aggrieved with the ref it was Saints.

But enough of spoilt brats on Chelsea's bench, this was perhaps the best all round performance since Ronald Koeman arrived at the club, firstly the Dutch manager got his team selection spot on in the first half, he put out a team to keep it tight and catch Chelsea on the break and then at half time he shrewdly brought on James Ward Prowse for Romeu to take the game to Chelsea more and this paid dividends.

But it was a performance based on team work, although several individuals put in superb displays to put the icing on the cake.

Man of the match in my opinion was Graziano Pelle, I though that last week he has perhaps his best display in a Saints shirt, but he surpassed even that at Stamford Bridge. Quite simply he was at the heart of everything that Saints did going forward.

For the equalising goal the way he muscled his way in front of Gary Cahill and then held him off and steered a pass off his chest sideways for Steven Davis to fire home was sublime, in the 2nd half he won the ball and then threaded the ball through to Sadio Mane who turned John Terry and slotted home.

But Pelle's goals was the best saved for last, he won the ball himself back in the Saints half and played Mane through, he then galloped forward and gave Mane an option which the Senegalese striker took allowing Pelle to fire home a rocket shot into the far corner to seal the victory.

Mane was another contender for the man of the match and his pace constantly caused the home defence problems, also deserving of a mention would be Virgil Van Dijk and Steven Davis, the former adds something to our defence that neither of his two predecessors had and not only is he cool and collected but he can carry the ball forward.

The latter Steven Davis is the unsung hero of this squad, but he showed why he is vital to it, hard running and just doing the basics right is his trademark and every team needs one of these, but the fact he capped it with a goal is very pleasing and hopefully Saints fans will give him a little more credit for his consistent displays in the future.

Another player who could be a contender is Cedric Soares, again another who put in his best performance for the club, it was a slow start for the Portugese right back, but now he is really starting to come to terms with the Premier League and that will be good if he can keep replicating displays like this.

But if these five are singled out that should not diminish the contribution of everyone else and the graft they put in for the whole 90 minutes and more, to go a gol down at Chelsea is usually a very bad sign n that few teams win after that, to roll up our sleeves and do so is a superb testament to the way that Ronald Koeman has again fashioned a team that can challenge for the top six, some Saints fans where preaching doom and gloom a few weeks ago, but they ill be red faced today, yes one good result doesn't make us a bad team, but then again neither did one bad result make us a bad one and to be nicely poised after 8 games in the top 10 is a good start now.

Like any team there are still things to work on, but we truly have a squad now rather than a team and its been a long time since we have been able to say that, the back four is now looking strong again, the midfield can change its personnel and shape depending on the need and attacking wise we are frightening, only three teams have scored more than us and we are looking better with each game.

So a very good day at th office and the fact that in the process we made Jose Mourinho throw his toys out of the pram big time and made a few people realise that John Terry was dropped for a good reason ie he is well past his sell by date is a bonus.

But I am not gong to let those two have the last say in this Verdict, it should be the entire Saints team and its manager, they gave us something to be proud of on Saturday evening and made us all realise how lucky we are to support a team like Southampton and be truly a local community based club rather than support a team like Chelsea, a team with no geographical centre, a team with no civic pride and where the supporters have no real connection with their fellow fans other than they travel to a place in West London every so often.

We are Saints "We March On" we always have done and always will, The Spirit Of Southampton has always been in this club and that is something to be proud of.

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