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.

Photo: Action Images

altonsaints added 10:50 - Oct 4 What was also very nice to see, was how much possession Chelsea had but how little they did with it. As you mentioned, our defence seems to be getting stronger with every game. Virgil seems like he's been playing for us for an awful lot longer than he actually has. So pleased for Davis for getting a goal after the hard graft he puts in.
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1970 added 10:59 - Oct 4 We should think ourselves very lucky to be following the Saints yes you are right, spare a thought for those West Brom fans that gloated with the skates at our demise from the premier league all those moons ago and they have to watch their team have no intention of winning a game of football even at home, but the result yesterday at Stamford bridge gave the nation some cheer after the rugby debacle, message boards are awash with not "poor old Chelski" but "how good were they" (saints), to be honest I thought we would lose a tight game maybe 2-1 because you can guarantee Cheslski turn up to play us because we try and beat them not sit back, and it would of been different if that fourth went in, I think Mourinho would of gone lol, but who cares great result, I'm glad to see Davis play the way he has for the last two seasons because he hasn't so far this season also Bertrand was fantastic along with all the others you mentioned, with Classie and Forster still to come back the future is bright its red and white coyr.

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SaintPaulVW added 10:59 - Oct 4 Absolutely deserved it. Came from behind and showed Chelsea's slow defence up. Shame their Manager tried to divert attention away with some pretty rubbish comments.
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BUCK added 11:00 - Oct 4 I fully agree pelle should have been man of the match. He was unbelievable. I got no voice left. Our fans were simply amazing yesterday.coulndt even hear the Chelsea fans haha. Soon as I saw the team sheet I knew the points were ours to take.was even having a chat with franny benali amd said got a good feeling g about this.3-1
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BUCK added 11:02 - Oct 4 To see Chelsea at the bottom makes it far sweeter haha. Let's hope spurs and Liverpoo lose today which I think they both will
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IanRC added 11:04 - Oct 4 Wonderful team performance and I agree Pelle was magnificent (and magnanimous in his interview afterwards with Mane). Mane too was magnificent, as I said in another comment not since LeTiss was playing have I enjoyed watching a player so much, just hope we can hang onto him for a while. All round there is flexibility but backbone shame the international break is upon us.
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saintsnutcase added 11:06 - Oct 4 I was so wrong about Pelle it is embarrassing. He is right up there with our best ever centre forwards, even the great Ron Davies. We must make sure he doesn't get knackered like he did last season.
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Saintslover added 11:18 - Oct 4 I loved the way Southampton played with Pelle as man of the match, Mourinho might say he's the best manager but Koeman showed how to beat this mouther.
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IWOZTHERE added 11:20 - Oct 4 Proud day...famous performance, all looked hungry for success and got what they deserved! Another step towards top six plus? All looked good but a couple of 'star' performances so all the more reason to bend the wage cap and extend contracts for the obvious candidates BEFORE they get tapped up by the (for now) big boys. Don't let it happen again, we've got to 'break the mould!'

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stmichael added 12:41 - Oct 4 Agree with most of that. The substitution however was due to the yellow card. Something that is happening too often as Romeu gets a lot of yellow cards and he gets them early which seriously reduces his effectiveness. Has to be sorted otherwise he will be down the pecking order with regard to selection especially when Clasie is fit..
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ItchenNorth added 14:43 - Oct 4 An even better day than Old Trafford last year. Fully deserved win. Leicester will give us a good game though !
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corkcitysaint added 15:18 - Oct 4 For all Chelsea's money, it can't buy team spirit. I thought we had that in abundance yesterday. If I was a Chelsea fan, I'd be embarrassed by JM's post match rant. I don't think he even had the decency to congratulate us our how we played.Instead, he blames everyone but himself. Sad. If we can continue to play at the level that we did yesterday, who knows what the season may have in store. Onwards and upwards.

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BoondockSaint added 18:04 - Oct 4 FINALLY! Finally we played a full game. Finally we came back from a goal down. Finally we keep after a team all game long. Finally we didn't let everything slip away in Fergie/Big Four Time. Finally when we had our foot on team's neck we didn't ease off, but added pressure. Mane is the talisman he makes everyone else raise their game-why is it he can run all game long and others have to be subbed? We have to keep him and Koeman! Off-load J-Rod and Long and use that money. Of course now that we are on a roll, here comes the international break to trip us up. On the plus side, Hodgson will work his magic on Vardy an he won't score for the rest of the season.

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DPeps added 18:16 - Oct 4 Great stuff, as I wrote in my delirious mini report. Stand out moments: Ivanovic on his arse after Tadic beat him, Mane out muscling England international Gary Cahill, and Terry's face every time our attack got the ball. Not a day for negatives, but... Forster can't come back soon enough. Stekelenburg is ok but doesn't inspire confidence
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Consigliere added 18:40 - Oct 4 AS CONSIGLIERE TO THIS WEBSITE it is my sad duty to advise readers what Chelsea supporters think of us. Read the ill-informed, illiterate half-baked and frankly sad invective from West London below and weep - http://www.chelseasupportersgroup.net/2015/10/driver-on-the-wings-weather-for-ch Meanwhile the rest of sentient humanity are enjoying their discomfort. I particularly liked the efforts to introduce the word "Mourihno" into the Oxford English dictionary as a verb: "To Mourinho" - To attempt to divert attention from one's personal failures by blaming others

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halftimeorange added 20:06 - Oct 4 Mane making our national team's stand-out centre half look like a park player doesn't say a lot for our chances in any upcoming tournament, does it? Please, Saints, produce a couple of English centre backs.
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TeamCortese added 22:23 - Oct 4 Very proud of our performance against Chelsea. I think it will give the squad some real confidence for future fixtures. Bring on Leicester! :)
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BoondockSaint added 03:21 - Oct 5 Buongiorno Consigliere! Just read the link, "I can only hope that their undoubted affection for Chelsea and adoption of our team has also led to an adoption of other standards that we seek to maintain." I would like to point out that the genius who wrote is referring to his fellow fans in Indianapolis, a town that had no NFL team until the Baltimore Colts a team with a great winning tradition, who were part of the fabric of that city, almost as much as the Packers are Green Bay, snuck out of town literally under the cover of darkness. Since there is revenue sharing and a salary cap in the NFL, this was done out of petty greed and spite, not because the fans were not filling seats and the team was losing money. So apparently this knuckle scrapper only likes places that buy championships with teams who wear blue.! Even worse, he maligns Benny!!! To top that off, he left out Ken Russell, and also Lucy Pindar who was born in Winchester and supports us. So in short, we are proudly Red-Blooded and he is just a supporter of a team with blue balls. Ciao!

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lemmsy added 09:43 - Oct 5 After the Everton defeat & our exit there were SUPPORTERS calling for rk to be sacked, one assumes these were the same group that gave Matty target the treatment . I'll use Ryan Bertrand as an example of a young player who couldn't break into the Chelsea side but has now developed into a top international player and I'm sure Matty will aswell . As for big Ron , eventually he'll go to a bigger club or his national side because that's the nature of modern football and I guess those who called for his sacking will beg him to stay or call him a traitor when he goes.( rant over ) Moving on to Saturday what a fantastic team performance. Our defence was superb , reducing Chelsea to a wonder free kick & 2 other half chances. Whereas we had 4/5 good chances to in crease the score line . Pelle is playing brilliantly ( looks so sharp , think back to first game last season against Liverpool ) & mane looks very strong .leicester will be a different challenge but all in all things are coming together . Coyr

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RogerToye added 11:24 - Oct 5 STRENGTH AND DEPTH now. my measure is how well we do against Arsenal and Man C I think we will finish higher than last season and can finish 4 or 5 th Having Ryan and J Roddy back is a blessing i also wait to see what Jordie is going to bring exciting time to be a saints fan
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SingaporeSaint added 15:25 - Oct 6 Absolutely magnificent performance.. It is easy to write comments to criticise and sometimes harder to praise - but we were fantastic and should have been more... Great at the back and what a difference Bertrand makes, we were also dynamic going forward with Mane and Pelle looking like world beaters... Loved it - let's hope we really kick on now.
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