Exactly nine days after they were overrun by relentless, all-action Leeds United, Southampton beat Chelsea, extending their losing streak this new season.
The scorer of their equaliser, gifted, teenage midfielder Romeo Lavia encapsulated that, marking another mature performance with his first-ever senior goal before succumbing to injury.
German youngster, centre-back Armel Bella-Kotchap, was one of Southampton’s standout performers at the back but far from the only one.
Both prospects arrived in the summer as part of Southampton’s youth recruitment drive as they look to build around promising talent.
Lavia and Bella-Kotchap lived up to expectations and fit the bill for the transfers
The opening was a sign of things to come, particularly from Southampton.
The victory took Hasenhuttl’s team up to seventh in the Premier League, one place ahead of Chelsea. By the end Tuchel had changed his system to three at the back and sent on Ben Chilwell and Christian Pulisic as wing-backs, to little effect. He had lost Ruben Loftus-Cheek to injury at half-time to be replaced by Mateo Kovacic whom Tuchel intimated was not fit himself.
For all Chelsea’s possession in the second half, as they went in search of the equaliser, there were two crucial goalmouth clearances from Marc Cucurella and then Thiago Silva to deny Southampton the third goal. The absence of James had meant that captain Cesar Azpilicueta came in for his 450th Chelsea appearance and by no means his best. The right side was a problem for Chelsea all night, and both goals had their roots in that part of the pitch.
The defeat condemned Chelsea to their second defeat of the season and the German boss believes his side are struggling for focus and to find consistency.
‘We started well in all the games almost but obviously, we are struggling with our focus and consistency in matches.’ Tuchel told BT Sport after the game.
‘We struggled to find answers and find the way back if things don’t go in our direction. Things did go in our direction today but then we struggled after the equaliser.
‘I don’t know if the concern is the right word. I absolutely dislike losing, it is the second time this season and I don’t think it takes a lot to beat us and this I don’t like.
‘We try to win matches and the way we do this is something we need to understand as fast as possible. I also don’t understand why we are in this situation with injuries to all midfield.
‘I think in the first 20 minutes we created half chances but struggled to score. That is also not brand new for us and that doesn’t necessarily have the consequence you can lose matches, you can win 1-0.’
‘I don’t think it takes a lot to beat us’
Tuchel also lambasted his team’s defending and accused the side of being too soft. Demanding to know why his team had no answers in the second half.
Telling BBC Sport. ‘Soft, soft, soft defending. There is no need to give shots away. Just toughen up as a team and show a different mentality.’
‘It is not enough to win away matches, it is not enough to play 20-25 minutes on the level we want. It is too easy to put us off balance, to beat us, to confuse us. It is too easy. It happened against Leeds. We need to understand why and find solutions.
‘We lose concentration, we lose our plan and lose consistency, it is too easy to beat us.
‘A lot of key players are injured, it is something I don’t really understand. You can always lose football matches and I am humble enough to admit this but in a match where you are in the lead there is no need to give away half chances. To have no answers in the second half was disappointing.
‘We need to have answers, we need to step up and play a level higher if needed. We struggled to do this.’
