Chelsea returned as two goals each by Timo Werner and Mason Mount and first half by Marcos Alonso and Kai Havertz registered a 6-0 Premier League win over Southampton at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday.
Chelsea went 1-0 up in the eighth minute as Alonso ran on a clever blow by Mount and blasted his first league goal since the opening day of the campaign.
Chelsea's leading scorer in the league this season Mount equaled his tally of nine goals from the previous campaign with a brilliant shot from outside the box after failing to tackle Southampton's shaky defense Ruben Loftus-Cheek's cross.
Southampton's fall continued as Werner made up for his previous lapses by beating Jan Bednarek for pace before scoring Fraser Forster's goal and ending in an empty net. Havertz slipped into fourth at Chelsea after Werner hit the post again.
It was the seventh time Southampton conceded four or more in the first half of a league game under Ralph Hasenhutl, prompting home fans another humiliation on the lines of the 9–0 defeats by Leicester City and Manchester United the previous season. Fear arose in between.
A relentless Chelsea was rewarded again after the break as Werner tapped into a rebound from an N'Golo Kante effort, which was saved by Forster. Mount finished the round with another easy finish in the 54th minute.
"It gives us the confidence to win and get that feeling back. I said every game is a final and it started today. We need to keep that going," Mount said.
It was the perfect tonic for the European champions, who were beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid in the opening leg of their Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday after being beaten 4-1 by Brentford last weekend.
Victory helped Chelsea break into the top four, with Thomas Tuchel's team finishing third in the table with 62 points from 30 matches. They will visit Madrid on Tuesday ahead of next weekend's FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace.
"It was a good performance and a well-deserved win. It's a tough stadium, but we took it easy. In possession we were focused so it's a good performance and an excellent result," Tuchel said.
"We wanted to play with the same attitude but we have a lot of matches on our feet so we managed the game after that. It's easier when you're down but it was a good mindset."
A dismal Southampton, who are ranked 13th with 36 points, will welcome Arsenal next Saturday.