Although somehow it felt like nothing
was ever going to be enough. Even when Chelsea led through first-half
goals by Demba Ba and Eden Hazard, there was a feeling of unease inside
Stamford Bridge.
It was Chelsea's smallest home crowd in
the Barclays Premier League this season, in icy temperatures with minds
distracted by Pep Guardiola's decision to snub the idea of a few months
working for Roman Abramovich in favour of three years at Bayern Munich.
Shock: Puncheon's sublime volley earned a point for Southampton after Chelsea led 2-0 at half-time
MATCH FACTS
Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Ramires, Lampard (Torres 79), Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Ba.
Subs not used: Turnbull, Ivanovic, Ferreira, Marin, Terry, Bertrand.
Goals: Ba 25, Hazard 45.
Booked: Luiz.
Southampton: Boruc,
Clyne, Yoshida, Hooiveld, Shaw, Cork, Steven Davis (Chaplow 67),
Schneiderlin, Puncheon, Do Prado (Ramirez 74), Rodriguez (Lambert 55).
Subs not used: Kelvin Davis, Fox, Ward-Prowse, Seaborne.
Goals: Lambert 58, Puncheon 75.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
Attendance: 38,484.
Pep, what attracted you to this
impressive Bavarian club with a rich heritage, a vast fan base and a
slick management structure packed with respected former players? You
might ask.
Apathy hung in the air. Chelsea
supporters did not boo Rafa Benitez until the very end, although dissent
began to stir when Frank Lampard was replaced by Fernando Torres after
79 minutes.
When Rickie Lambert pulled a goal back
within three minutes of coming off the bench in the second half, the
natives became agitated and when Jason Puncheon fired a superb equaliser
15 minutes from time they were left uncomfortably numb.
It may have been the cold but it may
have been chilling realisation that Roman Abramovich's project has lost
direction and, after sacking club legend Roberto Di Matteo, they are not
about to be pleasantly surprised by the arrival of the world's most
in-demand coach.
As they digested Guardiola's decision to
choose Bayern from his wealth of options, Chelsea fans were left to
contemplate this might mean an extended tenure for Benitez.
Impact: Ba scored on his home debut to give Chelsea the lead
As if to remind Abramovich of their
thoughts on this matter, they booed the team off the pitch and burst
into a chorus of: 'F*** off, Benitez, we don't want you here'.
It was only the third time in the Premier League era Chelsea have led by two at half-time and failed to win.
The point leaves them 13 adrift of
leaders Manchester United, six behind City in second. Benitez, who has
enjoyed little comfort at Stamford Bridge from the moment he was jeered
to his seat before his first match, said: 'We cannot be happy drawing at
home.'
Chelsea have won two of seven matches at
home since Benitez took over from Di Matteo. In those two games they
smashed 14 goals past Aston Villa and Nordsjaelland.
The atmosphere was flat from the start.
It wasn't only Guardiola. There had been stories circulating that
Lampard was stepping up his talks with Los Angeles Galaxy after
accepting his destiny lies elsewhere after this season.
Lampard, too, started like a man with
his mind elsewhere. He was robbed deep in his own half by Jay Rodriguez
but escaped as the Southampton striker hurried his shot and hooked it
well wide.
First choice? Ba celebrates his goal after starting ahead of Torres
If the home crowd had one thing to cheer it was the decision by Benitez to start with Ba up front rather than Torres.
The £7.5million signing from Newcastle
provides an outlet like Didier Drogba used to and has started his
Chelsea career with a flurry of goals.
He scored twice at Southampton on his
debut in the FA Cup this month and punished the same side when they
failed to clear in the 25th minute.
Lampard collected the ball on the right
and eased a pass to Cesar Azpilicueta, who topped his cross but Oscar
thrust his head down and helped it towards Ba, who adjusted his body and
hooked a right-foot volley low into the net.
It was his third goal in three starts
for his new club - it took Torres 25 games to reach three goals - and
his 16th of the season.
Lampard fired wide from the sort of
chance he rarely misses and Artur Boruc denied Hazard with his
fingertips before the visitors leaked a second goal.
Control: Hazard doubled Chelsea's lead just before half-time
As with the first, it was a threat that
ought to have been cleared but Nigel Adkins saw his defence dither and
allow Chelsea to recycle the ball on their right.
Ramires lashed a half-volley into the
post and Hazard pounced on the rebound on the edge of the penalty area
and made a difficult finish look incredibly easy, tucking the ball
inside the post with his left foot.
Adkins threw on Lambert for Rodriguez early in the second half and he struck quickly.
Nathaniel Clyne muscled past Hazard on
the wing and delivered a fine cross, Lambert eased away from Gary Cahill
and beat Azpilicueta in the air, thumping his header into the top
corner before Petr Cech could react. Southampton rode Chelsea's brief
retaliation before Puncheon levelled.
His goal started with a surging run by
17-year-old full back Luke Shaw. Gaston Ramirez was unable to control
his low cross but it spilled to Puncheon, who applied a clinical finish.
Southampton are improving and this was a good point in the fight
against relegation.
Hope: Lambert scored within three minutes of coming on to reduce Southampton's arrears to 2-1
Torres for Lampard was not a popular move by Benitez and Lampard did not appear impressed as he ripped off his armband.
The skipper had not played well but these fans trust him to find them a goal more than Torres. With good reason.
Guests: New York Knicks basketball players were in the crowd ahead of their NBA match at the O2 Arena on Thursday
One chance fell to Torres, sent on to
play wide on the right, but he sliced it wide. When he over-hit a cross
in added time, fans turned on him with a volley of abuse. Patience had
worn out. No Pep and one point.
Those still around at the final whistle
turned on Benitez. Abramovich must know fans will not tolerate a
permanent deal for the interim boss.
Angry: Chelsea fans booed when Benitez took Lampard off and brought Torres on
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