Tammy Abraham sends England warning in Chelsea triumph at Southampton

 

The Chelsea forward opened the scoring for the Blues in a comfortable 4-1 victory over Southampton at St Mary’s to bring his goal tally in all competitions to nine, cementing his rating as the top English striker at the moment.

Tammy Abraham was called up to the England squad for the upcoming Euro qualifiers by Gareth Southgate and the 22-year-old made a strong case for winning the race to start ahead of Tottenham’s Harry Kane by his goalscoring display yet again for Frank Lampard’s side.

Abraham grabbed his eight goal in as many start to lead Frank Lampard’s men to a straightforward win over struggling Southampton on Saturday afternoon.

There were also goals from Mason Mount and N’golo Kante as Chelsea ran riot over the home side who had Danny Ings to thank for their consolation goal.

Both sides took some time to settle into the game but it was the away team who drew first blood, taking the lead through Tammy Abraham as he chased a long ball over the top and diverted his strike over the onrushing Angus Gunn into the net.

Moments later it was 2-0 to Chelsea. Mason Mount extended the Blues advantage by finishing a flowing move with a powerful strike.

However, the Saints got back into the contest on the half hour mark when Danny Ings diverted Yan Valery’s low cross past Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Blues kept pressing and exposed the home side again when N’Golo Kante was afforded space and time and he saw his driven effort deflect off Jan Bednarek to find the net.

Chelsea took the sting out of the contest after the break as the Blues revealed their growing experience by seeing out the victory without any unwanted drama.

In the closing stages, Mitchy Batshuayi – who had replaced Tammy Abraham only five minutes earlier – grabbed the game’s fourth goal. Batshuayi combined with Pulisic in the final third as the American released his run with a fine pass with the outside of his boot. The Belgian forward held his composure to drill his strike through the legs of Gunn into the net.

The win catapults Chelsea to fifth on the Premier League table level on 14 points with Leicester City and Crystal Palace but with an inferior goal difference to the Foxes, who sit pretty in fourth.