Photo: Chelsea FC

Southampton tried to kill the game in the first half through time wasting as the half rolled to its end.

However, it backfired on them when Marcos Alonso scored a late first half goal to give Chelsea all three points.

Speaking to the media after the game, Antonio Conte voiced his concern about Southampton’s time wasting.

He said: “I must be honest, in the first-half they stopped for the injury for Cedric and then the doctor came to visit him, there was a substitution and I continued to see a lot of wasting time from the goalkeeper.

“Every time the ball went out, to restart the game maybe one minute. It’s important to pay attention to in this wasting time, to the bad tackle. You have to protect who try to win and who try to attack, not who is defending.”

He then warned that referees should do something about this earlier in the game.

He added: “I hope after this something can change. I assume in the next game they will try to change this situation.

“To book the goalkeeper early is very important because then the game is faster.”