Saints’ wait for a home win is set to continue for at least another few weeks after they were beaten 4-1 by Chelsea.

Ralph Hasenhutt’s men last tasted victory at St Mary’s back in April and rarely threatened to pick up a first three points of the season in front of their home fans as the Blues cruised to victory.

Four of the goals came in an action packed first half with Tammy Abraham and Portsmouth fan Mason Mount giving Chelsea a two-goal lead. Danny Ings pegged one back but N’Golo Kante’s heavily deflected shot put the game beyond Saints. Michy Bathusayi added another late on to make the scoreline even more miserable for Saints.

They now head into the second international break of the season with seven points from their opening eight fixtures and sitting just above the bottom three.

Saints came flying out of the traps and came close to taking the lead inside the first minute.

Nathan Redmond took advantage of Chelsea standing off of him to hit a drive from 25 yards that swerved and dipped narrowly over the bar.

Chelsea were clearly a threat going forward and worked Angus Gunn for the first time after ten minutes with Tammy Abraham’s low shot from the edge of the box needing saving.

The next time Abraham had a sight of goal he gave Chelsea the lead.

It was depressingly easy for them too with Callum Hudson-Odoi simply lifting a ball over the top on 17 minutes for Abraham to chase down.

Maya Yoshida was with the Chelsea striker and trying to deal with it but Gunn came off his line and got lost in no man’s land, allowing Abraham the chance to quickly lift the bouncing ball high over his head from the edge of the box.

Yoshida completed an acrobatic clearance, but the goal was given with technology proving the ball had crossed the line.

It got even worse as Saints made another dreadful error to allow Chelsea to double their lead on 24 minutes.

Saints made a mess of trying to clear their lines and a wayward header from Jan Bednarek conceded possession to Willian. Just a couple of passes later Mason Mount was played in behind and produced a calm finish to beat Gunn at his near post.

Mount probably should have added another three minutes later but this time he scuffed his shot wide of the far post after Saints had again given the ball away cheaply.

Against the run of play Saints got themselves back in it on the half hour mark.

Yan Valery produced a dynamic run into the box and cut back a cross into the six yard box which Danny Ings just managed to reach ahead of Kurt Zouma to turn home for 2-1.

However, Chelsea hit back five minutes before half time.

A chipped pass down the left found Marcos Alonso who squared to N’Golo Kante. Saints stood off him and the midfielder took a shot from 20 yards that deflected off of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg leaving Gunn wrongfooted.

Ings so nearly gave Saints another lifeline in stoppage time as he intercepted a loose pass and lifted a shot past Kepa Arrizabalaga but Jorginho was alert to the danger and prevented the goal with a sliding clearance.

Chelsea nearly added a fourth four minutes after the restart as Willian waltzed through the middle far too easily and picked out Hudson-Odoi in the area. He opened up his body and tried to finish right footed into the far corner but Gunn made the save.

James Ward-Prowse had the chance to try and produce something special with a 20 yard free kick but failed to hit the target.

Gunn had to make a decent save as Chelsea quickly countered and Abraham fired in a low shot.

Hasenhuttl threw on Michael Obafemi, Sofiane Boufal and Che Adams in the closing stages but it was Chelsea who scored the final goal of the game with a minute remaining.

It was well worked by the Blues but Saints looked a beaten team.

Second half subs Michy Batshuayi and Christian Pulisic combined with the former starting and then finishing the move to leave Saints well beaten.