Chelsea reveal pitch battle

Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri confirmed the Stamford Bridge pitch will be relaid in the new year following his side’s disappointing home draw with Southampton.

The result meant the Blues lost ground to Arsenal at the top of the Premiership as the Gunners extended their advantage to four points, but Ranieri insisted his team had performed well.

The increasingly boggy and uneven playing surface probably suited Southampton more than the home side and a draw was a fair result despite a succession of missed chances for Chelsea.

Gianfranco Zola hit the post, Marcel Desailly shot over the crossbar from close range and substitute William Gallas was denied by a superb reflex save from Saints goalkeeper Antti Niemi.

Ranieri said: “We will change the pitch after two more games. First we play Middlesbrough in the cup then Charlton on January 11 and after that we change the pitch.”

The result meant Chelsea have now managed to keep six successive home clean sheets and Ranieri claimed he was pleased with his side’s display.

“I’m pleased with our performance because it was a very difficult game and the pitch was very bad.

“Southampton have good organisation and play all together and narrow and are very efficient. It was difficult for us to build the action.

“The first thing was to maintain the balance on the pitch and then try to build.”

Southampton are now unbeaten in six matches and their best chance also came in the first half when James Beattie was found by Jo Tessem’s header following Wayne Bridge’s 36th-minute free-kick.

But the visitors’ leading scorer could only volley over the crossbar after turning well.

Saints manager Gordon Strachan was delighted with his team’s display, especially their first-half performance in which they more than matched their opponents.

He said: “We had better chances than them in the first half. When we had to attack we were good and when we had to defend we were good.

“In the second half we did well as we had to stand up and be counted. We played to our strengths on the pitch, but we were comfortable. On a good day, we get a break and score a couple but on an unlucky day they get the goals at the end.”

Strachan also complained about the state of the pitch in west London although he felt it may have helped his side maintain their unbeaten run.

“It’s not conducive to great football. We would love to play the beautiful game, but we didn’t want to play Chelsea at their game because they would be better than us, no doubt about it.”