Eden Hazard and Diego Costa shot down Southampton 2-0 to keep Chelsea on the shoulder of the Premier League pace-setters.
Convincing wins for Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool on Saturday had put the pressure on Antonio Conte's men as they faced a Saints side unbeaten in five matches.
But, inspired by Hazard, they responded with a comfortable victory to stay a point behind the top three and register a fourth straight league win for the first time since April 2015.
TWEET OF THE MATCH
"Hazard is so bloody good it's hard to fathom what happened last season. Just shows though how massively important confidence is." - Match of the Day host Gary Lineker.
STAR MAN
Eden Hazard. The Belgium international scored a fine opening goal and was a menace to Southampton throughout. Now already has more Premier League goals to his name than for the whole of last season.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Costa was having a quiet match but one moment of magic was all he needed to wrap up the three points. The Spaniard's superb strike from the edge of the area gave Fraser Forster no chance as it flew into the far corner.
VIEW FROM THE BENCH
Chelsea, playing three at the back again - although with no room for captain John Terry - gave Southampton plenty of respect by defending deep and counter-attacking. But Saints could not handle them on the break.
RATINGS
Southampton:
Fraser Forster 6
Cuco Martina 6
Jose Fonte 6
Virgil van Dijk 7
Ryan Bertrand 6
Oriol Romeu 7
Jordy Clasie 6
Steven Davis 5
Dusan Tadic 6
Nathan Redmond 5
Charlie Austin 5
Substitutes:
Sofiane Boufal (for Clasie, 61 mins) 6
Sam McQueen (for Bertrand, 78 mins) 6
Pierre Hojberg (for Tadic, 78 mins) 6
Chelsea:
Thibaut Courtois 6
Cesar Azpilicueta 6
David Luiz 7
Gary Cahill 7
Victor Moses 7
N'Golo Kante 7
Nemanja Matic 7
Marcos Alonso 6
Pedro 6
Diego Costa 7
Eden Hazard 8
Substitutes:
Willian (for Pedro, 77 mins) 6
Branislav Ivanovic (for Moses, 87 mins) 6
Michy Batshuayi (for Costa, 88 mins) 6
WHO'S UP NEXT?
Southampton v Inter Milan, Europa League (Thursday, November 3)
Chelsea v Everton, Premier League (Saturday, November 5)
Source: PA
