Chelsea 1-0 Southampton: 5 Talking Points

#2 Marcos Alonso makes the headlines for a well-timed free kick

Alonso's free-kick was all that separated the two teams

When Marcos Alonso joined Chelsea on the penultimate day of last summer's transfer window, there was plenty scepticism among the Blues faithful as the Spaniard had previously struggled at Sunderland, and they weren't convinced he was the right man moving forward.

However, he quickly put all those doubts to bed and ended the season as one of the league's finest left-backs. Conte has managed to bring the best out of him as a wing-back, and apart from his defensive duties, he has been equally effective in the final third as well.

Against Southampton, he was once again a key part of a majority of the Chelsea attacks and scored the game's only goal to hand his side the three points. Much like former Manchester City defender Aleksandr Kolarov, Alonso has an exceptional range from free kicks and it showed as he curled a shot beyond the wall into the bottom left corner, leaving Fraser Forster with no chance of keeping it out.

7 - Chelsea have scored seven direct free-kicks under Antonio Conte in all competitions, more than any other Premier League side since the start of last season. Arrow.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 16, 2017

He also has the highest goal involvement (14) of any Premier League defender since the start of last season. In that spell, Alonso has the back of the net on 10 occasions and has also chipped in with four assists.