Mario Melchiot’s first Chelsea goal since March 2002 earned the points in a largely uneventful game played in freezing, monsoon-like conditions.

A biggest-ever St Mary's crowd of 32,189 was not treated to a spectacle. Just after half-time Kevin Phillips produced the game’s first on-target shot, delivered straight at Carlo Cudicini. Chelsea’s first accurate strike came a minute later, and it was far more significant.

Having switched from a diamond to a flat midfield shortly before the interval and suddenly strung some passes together, Chelsea started the second half with a long sequence of quick interchanges between Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele (a massive presence in the second half), Wayne Bridge, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Damien Duff that stretched the Saints’ midfield and defence.

Smart touches from Lampard and finally Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left Mario Melchiot running diagonally into the box, onto the ball, and able easily to slide past Niemi from eight yards. It was a great move and cool finish.

Apart from a final five minutes of pressure from the home side, during which Phillips missed a free header from six yards out from Fernandes’s deep cross and the Frenchman also skimmed the bar from 22 yards, Chelsea controlled the second half.

Substitutes Jesper Gronkjaer (on for Joe Cole, who had found it hard to get into the game on the left of the diamond), Mario Stanic (replacing the fitfully brilliant Damien Duff) and Adrian Mutu (in place of the out-of-sorts Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink) allowed the Blues to press and defend high up the field against Southampton’s labouring forwards.

Hasselbaink missed two glorious chances to make it two for the Blues, both times set up by perceptive crosses from former Saint Wayne Bridge. The first was a screwed shot inside the box immediately after Melchiot’s strike, and the second a disappointing header with 20 minutes to go.

Bridge was roundly booed throughout the game, in contrast to Graeme Le Saux, warmly cheered by the travelling Chelsea fans before the game. Le Saux was arguably the home side’s most effective player along with Fernandes.

The display of resilience and control, even after Gordon Strachan’s desperate triple substitution on 68 minutes, made it a worthwhile trip for the noisy Chelsea following. This after a quite awful first period during which the diamond formation of Claude Makelele at the back, Lampard right, Cole left and Duff at the apex had looked off-kilter.

The conditions did not help – if there has been a wetter Chelsea match than this since Viktoria Zizkov at home it would be surprising. And Chelsea’s sheer professionalism and confidence meant that if the Blues chances on the break were rare, Southampton were virtually confined to long shots and – through Delap – long throws.

This will not, then, go down as a classic, but it was another of those matches that we might not have won pre-Roman, and a great boost for Mario Melchiot in a testing season for him.

                                                     M-O-T-M=Claude Makelele