Chelsea have moved into fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory away at Southampton.
Goals in either half from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa made the difference as the Blues recorded their fourth successive win in the Premier League.
The West London outfit needed just 30 seconds to take the lead against Manchester United last weekend but Antonio Conte would have had no complaints with his side taking six minutes to open the scoring on Sunday afternoon.
After Hazard was found on the right-hand side of the penalty area, he went past Steven Davis to move the ball onto his left foot before driving a low shot through the legs of Fraser Forster.
Southampton responded well but aside from a Charlie Austin header which went wide, they struggled to create chances in open play and their best effort came from a Dusan Tadic free kick which was saved by Thibaut Courtois.
As the first half drew to a close, Chelsea began to create more chances up the other end of the pitch but both Hazard and Diego Costa failed to make the most of opportunities in and around the penalty area.
It was all Chelsea at the start of the second half and moments after Marcos Alonso had dragged a shot well wide of the post, the Blues doubled their advantage through Costa.
Hazard had wanted his teammate to play a one-two on the edge of the penalty area but the Spaniard had other ideas as he curled the ball into the far corner from 25 yards.
The visitors had further chances as Costa fired over from close range before he failed to make the most of an opportunity from six yards after Victor Moses had seen a shot spilled by Forster.
Southampton also had their moments but aside from a header from Austin which went over and a deflected Davis effort which struck the top of the crossbar, the home side struggled to pose the Blues' defence too many problems.
During the closing stages, Chelsea pushed for a third with Moses forcing another save out of Forster but despite having to settle for two, Conte will be delighted with a fourth successive clean sheet with a formation which is rarely used in English football's top flight.
Darren Plant
