"BATTERED again, ole, ole," sang the Saints fans as Marc Cucurella plundered Chelsea's fourth goal in a 4-0 hammering in the Premier League.

The Blues handed Saints manager Ivan Juric his ninth Premier League defeat in 10 just matches, conceding 29 goals in those outings.

Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill put Chelsea three goals ahead by half-time and but for wasteful finishing, Cole Palmer would have added more.

The London side might as well have not bothered but did opt to score their fourth through Spaniard Cucurella after a drab second half at Stamford Bridge.

Juric made four changes from Saturday's 4-0 defeat to Brighton but two were enforced with Jan Bednarek injured and Lesley Ugochukwu ineligible.

The Frenchman is not allowed to face his parent club so Flynn Downes replaced him, and Armel Bella-Kotchap replaced the unavailable Bednarek.

Welington and Tyler Dibling also dropped out of the team with Yuki Sugawara and Will Smallbone called up - Juric's system remained unchanged.

Saints wanted back-to-back away wins in the Premier League for the first time since June 2020, while it had been 40 years since successive league wins at Chelsea.

The St Mary's side beat Blues here under interim boss Ruben Selles on their last visit but a record of one win in nine under Juric has failed to inspire.

Saints owners Sport Republic have been criticised but - despite over £1billion spent - a protest against Chelsea's BlueCo was staged outside the ground.

On the pitch, they would have little to complain about. Saints staged a decent fight for 24 minutes but from there, the floodgates opened.

Nkunku scrappily beat Smallbone to the back-post to convert Tosin Adarabioyo's headed second ball from a corner and put the Blues ahead.

Neto doubled the advantage 12 minutes later when a Downes pass was intercepted. Nkunku slipped in the Portuguese to smash past Aaron Ramsdale at the near-post.

The third came courtesy of Southampton lad Colwill, who rose higher than both Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo to head in a free-kick before the break.

It could have been even worse for Saints as Chelsea's 14-goal sensation Cole Palmer missed three huge chances in the first half.

Three times in on goal - two times before the opener and once at 2-0 - Palmer put wide twice while Ramsdale brilliantly saved the other.

Juric was forced into a change during the break after James Bree's discussions with the medical team and Kyle Walker-Peters was lost later on.

It meant the returning Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Ryan Manning and Dibling - on for Onuachu - were all on the pitch by the hour mark.

But the game was so comfortable that Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca handed a third Premier League appearance to 19 year old Tyrique George.

The youngster set up European Championship winner Cucurella - left in yards of space in the Saints box - for Chelsea's fourth in the 78th minute.

"Battered again, ole, ole," sang the Saints fans in the corner behind Ramsdale's goal, who had been surprisingly supportive all evening in the face of adversity.

Cucurella's goal was pretty much the first action of the second half. Mateus Fernandes and Aribo tried to get Saints up the pitch but had no options to turn to.

Ramsdale denied Palmer again deep into added time, after the England international won and ambitiously struck a free-kick from midway in the half.

Chelsea: Jorgensen; Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo (Acheampong, 83), Enzo (Mheuka, 88), Neto (George, 68), Palmer, Sancho (Dewsbury-Hall, 68), Nkunku (Amougou, 83)

Unused subs: Sanchez, James, Fofana, Samuels-Smith.

Booked: Caicedo.

Saints: Ramsdale; Bree (Harwood-Bellis, h-t), Bella-Kotchap, Aribo; Sugawara (Welington, 88), Downes (Archer, 83), Smallbone, Walker-Peters (Manning, 58); Fernandes, Kamaldeen, Onuachu (Dibling, 58).

Unused subs: McCarthy, Stephens, Wood, Gronbaek.

Booked: Onuachu, Manning.

Referee: Tom Brammall.

VAR: Craig Pawson.