WATCH: Jack Stephens receives straight red card for pulling Marc Cucurella's hair

Enzo Maresca made seven changes and took a slight gamble by resting players for tonight's match against Southampton. But it hasn't caused any harm to his squad. They just dominated the first half at St. Mary's, scoring three goals to crush Southampton. 

The first was rather simple: this season, Chelsea has finally scored from a corner. Axel Disasi was too large and powerful for anybody nearby, so he stood up to head it in from a close distance after Enzo Fernandez whipped it in. Enzo Fernandez then nutmegged in his area to give the Saints a point after Chelsea allowed a careless equalizer.

The greatest of the three was added last by Noni Madueke. Madueke was on the right, ready to cut inside and score in the far corner, following some excellent play from Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, and Joao Felix. Jack Stephens of Southampton was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella's hair in one of the more odd incidents of the Premier League season.

In the 39th minute, Southampton was getting ready for a corner kick when Marc Cucurella, a Chelsea defender, was pulled down by Southampton's captain. Match referee Tony Harrington was called by VAR to oversee the play. After giving it some thought, he returned and was forced to dismiss Stephens. A bad first half was made worse by an action Stephens had no justification for giving the referees.

Watch here the video:

Jack Stephens has just been given a red card for PULLING Cucurellas hair…

He did what every England fan wanted to do👏👏👏
pic.twitter.com/q6hRLNtQSc

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) December 4, 2024

Cristian Romero committed an identical offense against Marc Cucurella

Pulling Cucurella's long hair is nothing new to him, but the culprit hasn't always been held accountable. Tottenham Hotspur's Cristian Romero committed an identical offense against the Chelsea defense in 2022, but he was not sent off.

Under Enzo Maresca's direction, Chelsea is still making an impression early on. Point accumulation and the table's position come Christmas may cause the Italian to reconsider his persistent assertions that the squad is not in the running for the championship. 

In retrospect, Mike Dean, the video assistant referee for that day, acknowledged that he had erred by failing to request that the referee examine. After 13 games, Southampton has only five points, keeping them at the bottom of the Premier League. Chelsea's next game is against Tottenham on Sunday, and their following matchup is against Aston Villa.