Chelsea wasn't so reliant on Cole Palmer this time.
On a frustrating evening for the England star, his Chelsea teammates stepped up — as demanded by their manager — to share the goals in a 4-0 thrashing of last-place Southampton in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella were the scorers as Chelsea ended a three-match losing run by beating a team destined to go down, perhaps as one of the worst-performing teams to ever play in the Premier League. Southampton has just nine points from 27 games.
As for Palmer, he will wonder how he didn't get on the score sheet and add to his 14 league goals so far this season.
The best of his many opportunities at Stamford Bridge came midway through the first half when he was played clean through one-on-one with Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. He delayed and delayed and then shot too close to Ramsdale, who parried the effort away.
After wasting another chance in the second half, Palmer appeared to laugh at himself.
Palmer is on his driest run since joining Chelsea from Manchester City in September 2023. He hasn't scored in seven games now.
On the eve of the match against Southampton, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said Palmer's dip in productivity has probably arisen because “we rely on him for everything.”
Maresca returned to that same theme after the game.
“He has to continue to work, continue to be happy, continue to laugh they way he does,” the coach said. “We are completely happy with him. It is normal to go through a moment where you struggle to score but it doesn’t matter. Just continue and you are going to score many goals.”
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Chelsea climbed to fourth place in the standings. The Premier League is likely to get five qualification berths for next season's Champions League.
Another loss for Bournemouth, another win for Brighton
Bournemouth is a more unlikely contender for Champions League qualification, its ambitions boosted by an 11-match unbeaten run in the league from late November to the end of January.
However, the unheralded south-coast club has now lost three of its last four league matches, the latest being a 2-1 reverse at Brighton after Danny Welbeck scored the 75th-minute winner — three minutes after coming off the bench.
Justin Kluivert had equalized for Bournemouth in the 61st, canceling out Joao Pedro's 12th-minute opener from the penalty spot after he was fouled by goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Bournemouth started the match in sixth place — one point behind fifth — but dropped to seventh and has now been joined on 43 points by Brighton, another improbable candidate for Champions League qualification.
It was a fourth straight win in all competitions for Brighton since a 7-0 loss at Nottingham Forest.
Palace wins in front of Thomas Tuchel
Crystal Palace beat Aston Villa 4-1 at home, with Ismaila Sarr scoring twice for the hosts in a match watched by England men's coach Thomas Tuchel.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eddie Nketiah also netted for Palace, with Morgan Rogers replying for Villa.
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Fulham won 2-1 at Wolverhampton thanks to a goal in the first minute by Ryan Sessegnon and a winner by Rodrigo Muniz.