WALCOTT MAKES RETURN FROM INJURY

England international Theo Walcott made his return from injury just before the current international break during the away game against Chelsea. He had been injured for over a month.


Theo Walcott returned to action against Chelsea in the Premier League earlier this month as a part of the starting XI for the game. The ex-Arsenal and Everton attacker started the Chelsea game on the right wing and manager Ralph Hassenhuttl made the decision to remove him from the game after the first 45 minutes. Theo Walcott made way for French midfielder Ibrahima Diallo at the start of the second half as Southampton chased the game following the strike from young Blues defender Trevor Chalobah in the ninth minute.

Chelsea were the better team in the first half and the Saints could have conceded more than one goal. The half-time substitution made by Southampton boss Hassenhuttl improved his team and he got the reward just after the hour mark thanks to the penalty from James Ward-Prowse. English left-back Ben Chilwell committed a clumsy foul on ex-Blues youngster TinoLivramento in the box and Ward-Prowse made no mistake from the spot to restore parity for the Saints.

Ward-Prowse turned villain after his red card on 77 minutes upon the decision from VAR. He was sent off for the foul on Chelsea midfielder Jorginho. The sending off worked in favour of Chelsea as expected with two late goals courtesy Timo Werner and the abovementioned Chilwell. German international Werner was able to end his drought in front of goal with the second Chelsea goal, while Chilwell was able to atone for the part he played in the Southampton goal.

Chelsea moved to the top of the Premier League table with the 3-1 home win over the Saints, while their opponents are without a win since the start of the new Premier League campaign.