Chelsea fired back in the title race this afternoon as they controlled Southampton at St. Mary's to win 2-0.

The Blues had seen Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool all win yesterday and knew they needed to follow suit to go within a point of the top, something they duly did.

For the Saints, it was a game that they could have won if they'd used their possession better but in truth they came up against a Chelsea side that is clearly adopting every one of Antonio Conte's instructions.

Eden Hazard opened the scoring early on before Diego Costa doubled the lead and that is how it stayed until the end of the game.

Chelsea, then, did indeed go one point off of the summit whilst Southampton are in ninth place after seeing their unbeaten run come to an end.

There was plenty to take from this one and so here are the five things we learned from the London club's victory this afternoon.

John Terry is not a guaranteed starter

A few weeks ago, when John Terry was injured, many wondered how the Chelsea defence would cope without their captain. Now, though, with three at the back it looks as though Terry is going to have to really fight for his place in the side.

There's no reason why he won't be able to, but with the Blues keeping another clean sheet he's not going to just walk straight back in anymore.

This is a Conte team in system if not players

Whilst you could argue Antonio Conte doesn't quite have the players he wants right now, though he does have most of them, you surely have to say that this Chelsea team is his in system.

The 3-4-3 the Blues are using is tactically brilliant with each player knowing and executing their role perfectly.

Defensively strong and good going forward, this is what we would expect from Conte and it is what Chelsea fans are getting.

Top six maximum for Southampton

Southampton are a good side but they won't be getting near the top five title challengers on that performance.

That isn't to say they should be challenging for the title, but more that they'll have to settle for best of the rest outside the main contenders at the moment, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham.

If they can finish sixth, though, that would be a fine result.

Chelsea are right in this title race

After the Blues got beaten by Liverpool and Arsenal many doubted that they would challenge for the Premier League crown but they have bounced back emphatically since.

Their best players are in top form whilst their manager knows exactly what he wants from them. It's a decent looking combination for the Blues now and with them just a point behind, they have to be considered.

 Southampton could be more clinical

This wasn't a game that Chelsea completely dominated, truth be known, in fact Southampton could have won this game.

At the end of the day, they just lacked the quality and ruthlessness of their opposition this afternoon whilst the chances and possession they had just needed utilising better.

This wasn't a poor performance from Southampton by no means, Chelsea just showed that they are on that level above.