This was a game that threw up a few questions for Saints fans that need a few answers and fast.
The latest defeat for Saints against a Big Six club highlighted the gap that now exists between that elite group and the rest of the Premier league and beyond, five of that group are barely dropping a point this season unless they play each other, whilst the sixth, Manchester United although in complete disarray are still in 8th place only 5 points behind Spurs in 5th.
This tells us how much football has moved on even in the two years since we ourselves finished in the top six and Leicester won the League, things might look the same on the surface but under that veneer it has changed greatly and continues to change as that big six develop bigger income streams.
Chelsea spent £71 million on Kepa and he showed why with two great saves that meant his side were not going to face any mishaps in the final minutes, they also spent £57 million roughly Saints spent in the transfer window on Jorginho and that highlights the gulf and the need to spend money wisely, more of that later.
So Mark Hughes had to try and combat a Chelsea side who had won every game this season bar two both draws, he made changes that the crowd have been demanding, the return of Yoshida, a change of formation, yet the result remains the same.
There were those Saints fans screaming for Saints to get forward and press them, but that perhaps would have been suicide, Chelsea are an outstanding passing side with quick feet and the ability to hit you hard and fast on the break, to even get a point of them you have to be prepared to work hard, get behind the ball and take your chances when they come.
This is the sort of tactic employed by Bournemouth in every game, short bursts of effective attacking.
In truth Hughes system worked, yes we didn't see much of the ball and spent a lot of time chasing it in our own half, but it was us who should have taken the lead when Danny Ings volleyed over from close range, he really should have buried that shot.
But despite getting nothing from the ref we battles gamely, this was a much better performance than the previous two in terms of effort, but ultimately we paid the price by once again a lapse in concentration when Hojbjerg lost the ball in a dangerous position and we paid the price on the half hour mark.
Hughes made a change at half time when he took off Bednarek and brought on Romeu and Saints seemed to perk up a bit, again Bertrand should really have equalised when unmarked at the far post and again we paid the price soon after when poor marking cost us another goal.
But we didn't give up and had two long range efforts that Kepa had to excel to keep out and we really didn't deserve to concede a third in the last minute of injury time.
There were things to take from this game and things that are still very poor and that includes our marking at the back, I hoped that the inclusion of Yoshida would add some drive into the back four and although there was increased effort especially in the way we threw ourselves into the tackle, the fact was that we were no better in marking up and organising ourselves than in any other game this season.
This brings us to the root cause of the problem we have, those who rant about Krueger & Reed are way off the mark, the club is well run, we spent big in the transfer window, but we dont appear to have spent well.
Chelsea signed two players in the summer, they are playing a big part in Chelsea's fine start to the season, yet of the £55 million or so we spent in the summer, not of those four players had a singe minute of game time on the pitch yesterday, Ok Angus Gunn is a keeper and one for the future, but of the other three only Vestergaard made the bench and that is a concern.
Perhaps it is time to focus on the root cause of what is wrong at the club, it is not rotten to the core, Gao has done nothing wrong, Krueger has overseen a transformation that has made us self sufficient just as Markus Liebherr always intended us to be.
Our problem is easy to isolate, it is recruitment and that means Ross Wilson as head of recruitment and Less Reed as head of football who seems to have taken his foot off the gas.
The problem has been this last year, two years ago our major signings have largely come good, Hojbjerg, Redmond & McCarthy, but since then it has been patchy, Lemina & Hoedt have done a job but not excelled or found consistency, but they have potential, but then comes Bouffal & Carrillo a combined fee of around £36 million and both out on loan.
Then there is Manolo Gabbiadini, £15 million, some vital goals yes, but not enough and if Shane Long s criticised for his scoring record then it should be noted that in the last 12 months he has exactly the same as Gabiadini and that is two.
Our signings this summer have been no better than what we have Armstrong and Elyounoussi looked good against lightweight opposition pre season but have struggled in the Premier league and Jannik Vestergaard seems all at sea, against Chelsea Mark Hughes seemed to prefer a crocked Hoedt to a fit Vestergaard for the final minutes.
We still have a good squad, the issue is still central defence as it has been for two years now, we know the answer is not Yoshida and Stephens, to be blunt they might be "one of our own " etc etc, but they are not good enough, problem is we can't seem to sign anyone who is much better.
So to scream about worst performances ever is just knee jerk reaction, Chelsea did to us what they have done to everyone else, if we had played against Wolves as we did against Chelsea we might well have got a point or more, we now need to go to Bournemouth and show our fight and determination, this season is not going to be determined by games against the Big Six it's the games against the rest that will count.