After seeing their title rivals all win yesterday, Chelsea knew they needed to follow suit and they surely did.

The Blues would have been watching on Saturday afternoon as they saw the top three in the Premier League table win one after another. Arsenal beat Sunderland, Manchester City hammered West Brom and then Liverpool overcame Crystal Palace to leave them locked at the summit on points.

The trio had extended their lead over Spurs, who drew, to three and to four over the Stamford Bridge outfit but, just six minutes into their game with Southampton, they fired their response.

The Blues took the lead through Eden Hazard as, despite Southampton seeing lots of the ball, they controlled proceedings until half-time.

Diego Costa saw a chance go begging in that period but could not be kept at bay as he fired home his eighth league goal of the season in the second half, a great effort from outside the box.

2-0 was how it would stay until full-time to see Chelsea go a point off of the top and leave Southampton in ninth.

Job done for Chelsea, then, and so here are five pictures to help sum it all up...

 Hazard back to his best

Britain Football Soccer - Southampton v Chelsea - Premier League - St Mary's Stadium - 30/10/16 Chelsea's Eden Hazard celebrates scoring their first goal Reuters / Toby Melville Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further de

Eden Hazard was a nuisance throughout and largely set the tone with his early strike in this game. After Steven Davis allowed him to run into the box he duly cut inside the recovering midfielder before drilling a low shot under Fraser Forster.

It was a goal that highlighted all the good things the Belgian has about his game and with it, a warning to the rest of the league he is definitely back.

 Costa can't be denied

Britain Football Soccer - Southampton v Chelsea - Premier League - St Mary's Stadium - 30/10/16 Chelsea's Diego Costa celebrates scoring their second goal with Victor Moses and teammates Reuters / Toby Melville Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your acco

After squandering a good chance in the first half Diego Costa was not to be denied. The Spaniard has been in superb form this season and scored a sublime swirling effort in the second-half to really kill the game off as a contest.

With him in this form, Chelsea are going to go close to the title because he looks like the man of 2014/15 once again this campaign.

 Conte gets his tactics right

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Since switching to a 3-4-3 formation, the Blues are unbeaten as Antonio Conte demonstrates the sort of quality that's made him such a revered tactician.

Chelsea are far from a perfect team, though the solidity shown using this setup is something the side have lacked ever since they lifted the Premier League trophy under Jose Mourinho.

 Strong Chelsea defence yet again

Britain Football Soccer - Southampton v Chelsea - Premier League - St Mary's Stadium - 30/10/16
Chelsea's Marcos Alonso in action with Southampton's Jordy Clasie 
Reuters / Toby Melville
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This switch to three at the back and two wing-backs that Antonio Conte has got Chelsea to adopt is looking more and more inspired with each passing game.

The Italian has assessed what he has available to him in his squad and duly fitted them into a system that he knows how to utilise. Southampton never really looked like beating Chelsea here, despite having their fair share of the ball.

 Frustration for Southampton

Britain Football Soccer - Southampton v Chelsea - Premier League - St Mary's Stadium - 30/10/16
Southampton's Dusan Tadic 
Reuters / Toby Melville
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Southampton saw plenty of the ball and had chances but just could not make anything of it. They found a stubborn Chelsea defence combined with a threatening attack in their way and, as Manchester United found out last week, that makes for a pretty potent mix.

This result won't define the Saints' season but it does highlight the gap they need to eventually traverse if they are to compete at the highest level consistently.