Chelsea end their bad run and beat Southampton

Chelsea ended a poor run of form by comfortably beating bottom side Southampton 4-0 to move up to fourth place in the Premier League on Tuesday in Matchday 27 .

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The Blues have two more points than Manchester City and Newcastle , although the Citizens and Magpies have played a game in hand .

But the big loser of the day was Unai Emery's Aston Villa , who, also in London, collapsed against Crystal Palace ( 4-1) and are now four points behind Chelsea.

A win at Stamford Bridge against the bottom side was a possibility, but three consecutive defeats (two in the league and one in the cup) had led to protest banners appearing at the Blues' ground.

French striker Christopher Nkunku (24), Portuguese Pedro Neto (36), Englishman Levi Colwill (44) and Spanish European champion Marc Cucurella (78) brought some calm to the local faithful against an ineffective 'Saints'.

And in contrast to last season's great consistency , Aston Villa have yet to put together a winning streak .

Four days after their victory against Chelsea (2-1), the 'Villains' suffered their worst defeat of the season against Crystal Palace (4-1).

February has been a disastrous month for the Birmingham team , with just five points out of fifteen in the league. With 4.5 goals conceded, and despite the presence of Argentine world champion Emiliano Martínez between the sticks, Aston Villa find themselves relegated to tenth place in the English league.

The 27th round continues on Wednesday , with the matches Forest-Arsenal, Tottenham-City and Liverpool-Newcastle among others.

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