It was the first goal the Saints had conceded in seven league games and Chelsea grabbed the victor one minute from time thanks to a powerful header from Ivanovic.
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Chelsea manager Hiddick said, “I think it was a deserved win for us”.
Ryan Bertrand nearly deflected a Chelsea ball from Costa into his own net but the ball squirmed wide and it remained 1-0 to Southampton at half time.
Southampton have not conceded during their past six games, since the return to fitness of England goalkeeper Fraser Forster, but Koeman remains wary of the rejuvenated striker’s threat.
Hiddink hailed the “courageous” match victor Ivanovic, who was captaining the side due to the absence of captain John Terry through injury.
Chelsea finished strongly and Ivanovic headed in from a Willian corner.
“But the whole team is working hard to keep clean sheets and it is difficult to score against us because we have good organisation”.
While Chelsea’s performances under new manager Guus Hiddink have certainly seen a massive improvement from their exploits at the start of the year under Jose Mourinho, the Blues are still far from being back to their ruthless best.
After the match Hiddink admitted that Rahman’s confidence may be affected by his substitution but insisted that his decision had been vindicated by Chelsea’s greater defensive solidity after the break.
He said: “He’s not a big shouter, but the short commands he does is what I like about him very much as a manager”. I [prefer to] leave it three days more. “We had a lot of chances, the team played very well and were supported very well too”. Meanwhile, arguably the most in-form team at the moment, Southampton aim to end the Blues’ 10-match unbeaten streak in the league and make a run for a Europa League spot.
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Despite having improved their form in recent months, Oscar believes Chelsea are also getting the luck they lacked at the start of the season. As a national team coach you only have the players every now and then.
