Chelsea 1-1 Southampton - 5 talking points

Chelsea failed to capitalize on title rivals Manchester City’s slip-up as they were held to an entertaining 1-1 draw by this season’s surprise package Southampton. Diego Costa returned to scoring ways as his header gave the hosts the lead in the 11th minute, but that was cancelled out within minutes as Dusan Tadic’s penalty drew the scores level. It was an edge of the seat game where the pendulum swung wildly till the final whistle.Here are the five talking points of this exhilarating draw played at Stamford Bridge:

#1 Diego Costa is back!

Diego Costa has been in theheadlines for all the wrong reasons since the turn of the year. He was injured and later on suspended for his in field shenanigans, but today he showed why he is backed so much by his gaffer.

The Spaniard scored and silenced his critics as he showed his supreme positioning skills whenhe skilfully made space for himself between Saints centre halves to meet an exquisite cross from Branislav Ivanovic. Especially in the first half, when the entire Chelsea team was torrid to say the least, he was the only player along with Eden Hazard who looked like creating any sort of trouble for the Saints.

In the second half, he was particularly unlucky to not score as he came agonisingly close on many occasions, but was either denied by the flying Southampton defenders or some brilliant piece of keeping from Fraser Forster. He gave the required boost at the top to a resurgent Chelsea side.

Today he proved why he was the last piecemissing inJose Mourinhos jigsaw. He was without a shadow of the doubt one of the very few positives for the hosts tonight.

#2 Saido Mane the man for Saints

Sadio Mane was by far the best outfield player for the visitors at the Bridge. The Senegalese attacker was lively and a constant nuisance for that Chelsea rearguard.The 22-year-old started very brightly on the inside-left channelas he constantly exploited the space left behind by Chelseas buccaneering full back,Branislav Ivanovic. He was instrumental in Saints equalizer as his cheeky one-two with Victor Wanyama gave him an entry into the Chelseapenalty box and then he used hispace to earn a penalty throughNemanja Matic.

He constantly troubled Ivanovic, who was perplexed for the majority of the first half. Mane was double-teamed on the left wingby the hosts in the second half which forced him more into central areas of the pitch. Even there he was a constant threat as he led to some threatening breaks which were orchestrated by him.

The troika of Mane, Shane Long and Dusan Tadic were extremely impressive, but Mane stole the thunder.

#3 Saints\' effective domination

Chelsea came into the game on the back of a heart-wrenching draw which led to their ouster fromthe Champions League against PSG on the very same pitch where they hosted Saints today. The stage was set for the visitors to exploit their shell-shocked hosts.

And Ronald Koemans boys did just what the doctor had ordered. They started aggressively and their efforts borne fruit. Although they conceded first, but they never ever looked out of the contest even for a second. In the first forty-five minutes,it was all about the visitors as they looked like they would run away with the tie. Mane and Tadic split open the Chelseas defence at will and they were only denied by Thibaut Courtois.Chelseas effective pressing in the second half blunted the Saints to anextent, but they still looked promising.

#4 Courtois vs Forster - Battle of the Goalkeepers

Although, the game was between Chelsea and Southampton, in reality it was a fight to finish between two of the finest keepers in the Premier League Thibaut Courtois and Fraser Forster. One is a wonderkid, while the other is highly underrated. But today both were ontop form, especially Forster.

If Thibaut Courtois was pivotal for the league leaders, then Fraser Forster was their hero in the second. The Englishman made a flurry of saves in the second half and was rightly adjudged Man of the Match. Courtois, too, made some crunch saves, but his saves were what you would expect him to make since most of the shots were more or less directed at him.

But Forster made some breath-taking saves from Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Juan Cuadrado and most notably John Terry late in the game. The fans mustve had their hearts in their mouth, but it was some top quality goalkeeping on display at Stamford Bridge.

#5 Tale of two halves

This high profile clash in west London was what you can call the quintessential tale of two halves. It all began with Chelsea scoring the goal and then chasing that all-elusive winner. But, in the midst of all this, there was some gritty display by the visitors.

The round one was won by the visitors despite them conceding first. They came back strongly from then on and got themselves an equalizer as well. The duo of Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama dominated the midfield while the silky runners like Shane Long and Mane did the job up front.

The leaders were in no mood to take down the beating they got in the first half and Jose Mourinhos words must have done the trick as they came out roaring post the interval. Their proactive pressing high up the pitch not only troubled the Saints, but also broughtkey figuresFabregas and Willian into the game. The hosts were unlucky not to score as they were denied by the heroics of Saints keeper Fraser Forster.