Antonio Conte's men coasted to victory at St Mary's to make it four successive wins, and without conceding a league goal since the loss at Arsenal
Goals from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa ended Southampton's long unbeaten home record – and lifted Chelsea within a point of the Premier League lead.
The Saints had not lost at St Mary's since the Blues won here in February. But Hazard gave the visitors the lead after only six minutes when he turned inside Steven Davies to drill home his fifth goal of the season – more than the Belgian scored in the whole of the last campaign.
Claude Puel's side dominated possession but Thibaut Courtois's only first-half save came from a Dusan Tadic free kick.
Costa was denied by Fraser Forster when sent through on goal by Nemanja Matic just before the break. The Spain striker made no mistake after 55 minutes when he was given time and space on the edge of the Saints box by Cuco Martina before curling his shot into the top corner.
Forster made futher saves from Hazard and Moses while Charlie Austin had a late effort disallowed for a borderline offside decision.
Here are five things we learned:
1. The Blues are in this title race
Sir Alex Ferguson was wrong for not naming the Blues among his five title contenders.
Four consecutive Premier League wins wihout conceding a goal since the Arsenal defeat have removed any doubt that Conte's side are in the hunt (and seven points clear of Manchester United).
2. Saints are good but not top class
After another summer of upheaval which saw the departure of another manager and three top players, Southampon's run of seven domestic matches without defeat came to an abrupt end despite dominating possession.
There other defeats this season came away to Manchester United, Arsenal and Inter Milan.
3. Chelsea's three centre-backs work – without John Terry
Under the former Italy coach, Chelsea look very Italian. Solid at the back, then they break forward with speed and class.
Eden Hazard and Diego Costa are back from their sabbaticals and Pedro is the player he was at Barcelona.
But there is no place for Terry in this slick formation.
4. Van Dijk is the next player to go in the annual Saints sales
Claude Puel claimed on Friday that the Dutch defender can become one of the to five centre-backs in the world.
The former Celtic star combines good tactical awareness with the physical strength to compete with Diego Costa. He is better than Dejan Lovren, who Liverpool bought for £20million.
5. No revenge for Romeu and Bertrand
As well as selling Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, Jose Mourinho also disposed of Ryan Bertrand and Oriol Romeu during his second spell as Chelsea boss.
The Spaniard battled away but the England left-back was out of position for the opening goal.
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