Chelsea 3-3 Southampton: Lampard’s defence crumbles AGAIN as Jan Vestergaard nets late leveller

Timo Werner and Kai Havertz finally joined the Premier League goal frenzy and it will come as relief for Frank Lampard who will require many more from his expensive German strikers if his team insist upon such generosity at the back.

Chelsea led 2-0 after half an hour and were 3-2 up in stoppage time when Jan Vestergaard claimed a deserved point for Southampton.

Vestergaard’s glancing header diverted a volley from Saints debutant Theo Walcott beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga, recalled in the absence of Edouard Mendy and not always well protected by those in front of him.  

Jan Vestegaard scored an injury-time equaliser as Southampton held Chelsea to a 3-3 draw

Timo Werner (right) and Kai Havetz (left) both scored but couldn’t end up on the winning side

Kepa must take his share of responsibility for the second goal conceded by Chelsea, however, a true comedy of errors triggered by a poor back-pass by Kurt Zouma and converted at the second attempt by Che Adams.

The goalkeeper hesitated as Adams chased down the pass from Zouma, failed to rescue the situation and prompted more questions about his confidence and frame of mind.

‘He has to be strong enough,’ said Lampard. ‘That’s part of the job we’re all in. It’s a competitive world. Goalkeepers have to deal with that. He made important saves but everyone’s eyes will be on that second goal.’

Mendy, injured on international duty, could be fit next week, although Chelsea ought to have had the game sewn up before half time. 

Werner scored his first Premier League goal with a beautiful solo effort and an emphatic finish

Werner’s opening goal came after a quarter of an hour, a delightful illustration of his qualities. 

First a flash of movement to create space and receive a pass from Ben Chilwell and then a dummy to make Jan Bednarek look as if his feet were cast in cement.

Werner spun and accelerated clear of Bednarek but there was still plenty of work to do.

Germany striker Timo Werner demonstrated why Chelsea bought him with a wonderful strike

He drove into the penalty area, checked square across a crowd of three recovering defenders, ignored passing options and slammed a low, right-footed shot past McCarthy.

It was his first Premier League goal, a credit to his single-mindedness once he had broken the Saints back line, and his second soon followed.

Jorginho clipped a long pass over the top from midfield and Werner escaped Bednarek with another burst of pace before applying a delightful finish.  

The German striker nodded home after clipping the ball over Alex McCarthy for his second

Werner’s second goal was cultivated by a defence splitting pass from Jorginho (middle)

He lifted the bouncing ball over McCarthy, dashed past the Saints goalkeeper, collected it on the other side and rolled it into an empty net. Werner might have been celebrating a hat trick inside the first half hour. 

He had a goal ruled out because he drifted offside, a header from a cross by Chilwell, and fired another chance over from a tight angle.

McCarthy made a flying save to keep out a header from Kurt Zouma before Southampton fought their way back into the contest.

Adams won the ball from Havertz in midfield and released Danny Ings who skipped around Kepa to score his fourth goal of the Premier League season.

Southampton, from looking down and out, suddenly detected an equaliser and, as soon as the half-time whistle went, Ralph Hasenhuttl ran off to the visitors’ changing rooms in the health club, behind the Matthew Harding Stand.

‘It’s too far away,’ complained the Saints boss. ‘We lose nearly three minutes. Down the stairs, up the stairs, I don’t know where. You go inside and then have to come out earlier. You want to coach and reorganise and you have no time. It’s a long way.’

Whatever he said in his curtailed team-talk seemed to work. Southampton played with more purpose and poise in the second half and deserved the equaliser scored by Adams after the farce featuring Zouma, Kepa and Andreas Christensen.

But they were level for a mere 121 seconds before Havertz restored Chelsea’s lead, scoring for the first time in the Premier League, a simple finish after slick exchange of passes between Christian Pulisic and Werner. 

Danny Ings took the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga to tap home just before half-time to make it 2-1

A defensive mix-up from Kurt Zuma and Kepa allowed Che Adams to slam home and level

Adams’ goal was the perfect reward for the Saints who dominated the start of the second-half

Still the visitors refused to give up. Adams went close, a flashing effort across goal and wide, and Kepa save at his near post to deny Ings before Vestergaard found the net.

Zouma cleared a free-kick but only as far as Walcott who fired a shot towards goal and the centre-half claimed his first goal for more than a year.

‘I’m very frustrated and so are the players,’ said Lampard. ‘The first half was as good as we’ve played this season. We played some great football and Timo score two good individual goals, and that is great for him and for his confidence. Then at 3-2 we concede from a free-kick. We want to be able to kill it off.’

Kai Havertz (right) made it 3-2 to Chelsea after he tapped into an empty net after Werner’s pass

But Vetstegaard headed in Theo Walcott’s cross to earn a well-deserved point for the Saints

Follow Sportsmail’s live blog with DAN RIPLEY below…