Not for the first time Maurizio Sarri scoffed at the notion that Chelsea can be seen in the same light as Liverpool and Manchester City. He insisted the gap is too big and that Chelsea will struggle to plug all of their holes in a single season. Even in victory Sarri refused to gloss over a couple of slips at the back and a few wrong choices in the final third. The Italian is proving a hard man to please.

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Yet for all those misgivings, is it so ridiculous to call Chelsea contenders when their new manager has introduced himself to English football by winning six and drawing two of his first eight Premier League games? They are playing their football with a smile again and had a strut in their step when they rubbed salt in Southampton’s wounds with the kind of slick goal that suggests Sarri’s players are gaining an ominous understanding of his methods.

There were 93 minutes on the clock when Chelsea quickened the pace with an extended passing sequence. The 31st pass came from Eden Hazard and it left Álvaro Morata free to dink his shot over Alex McCarthy, Southampton’s goalkeeper. “We move the ball very quick,” Sarri said. “One touch, then we arrive in the goal so easily. The maximum at two touches. I can see my way of football in this situation.”

Sarri called it Chelsea’s best goal since his appointment in the summer and the former Napoli manager’s impact could also be seen in the change in Ross Barkley. The midfielder caught the eye on his first league start since August, providing the assist for Hazard to break the deadlock in the first half and killing Southampton off when he scored for the first time since joining from Everton in January.

It was a controlled display from Barkley, who has been called up by England for the first time in 18 months. “I am happy with him, for the goal, for the national team,” Sarri said. “I said from the first day that he had great physical quality but he had to improve from the tactical point of view. Now he has improved.”

Barkley’s performance was one of several positives for Chelsea, who were rarely in danger of suffering a Europa League hangover. Jorginho pulled the strings in midfield and the visitors quickly discovered that Southampton, who languish three points above the bottom three, were obliging hosts.

Chelsea’s high press had a smothering effect. There were times when Southampton’s 3-4-3 system morphed into a 5-4-1 and they almost fell behind in the eighth minute. Cédric Soares raced back to deny Hazard, however, and Southampton breathed a sigh of relief when Willian’s deflected effort clipped the top of the bar.

The frustration for Mark Hughes was that the opening goal arrived just when Southampton were settling down. Chelsea, who host Manchester United after the international break, had found it difficult to create clear openings for Olivier Giroud. Yet they pounced when Southampton tried to play out from the back in the 30th minute. “We’ve been guilty of overplaying on the edge of our box,” Hughes said. “They set the trap and we fell into it.”

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Wesley Hoedt sent a lazy pass to Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and the Danish midfielder was too slow to release the ball. Barkley won possession and registered his first assist for 18 months by releasing Hazard, who was never going to pass up the opportunity to score his eighth goal of the season.

It was a galling way for Southampton to concede, especially as Danny Ings had wasted a glorious chance five minutes earlier. They were on the front foot at that point and there were howls of disbelief when Ings volleyed over from close range after a fine cross from Ryan Bertrand. Hazard would show the Southampton forward how to finish, steadying himself before aiming high to McCarthy’s left.

Hughes switched to a back four at half-time, replacing Jan Bednarek with Oriol Romeu, but the gloom deepened when Bertrand squandered an easy chance to equalise.

Chelsea punished their former left-back’s profligacy in the 57th minute. Giroud’s acrobatic volley from Willian’s deep free-kick was going wide but Barkley was in the right place to bundle in his first goal since May 2017.

Southampton, who have won only one of their last 15 league games at St Mary’s, were done and Chelsea added a third when Morata scored for the second time in three days.