Chelsea made it four Premier League wins on the spin as they ran out comfortable 2-0 victors over Southampton at St Mary's on Sunday.

Antonio Conte's side got off to a flying start when Eden Hazard gave them a sixth-minute lead and they rarely looked in trouble after that as they controlled proceedings throughout.

Diego Costa sealed the win 10 minutes into the second half with a class strike from range as the Blues moved up to fourth place in the standings with their fourth straight win in the league.

The hosts looked to make a positive start as Oriol Romeu fired a warning to his former employers with a first-time volley from 20 yards out that flew just over the crossbar on five minutes.

But the Blues went up the pitch and broke the deadlock moments later when Hazard found Victor Moses on the right and he played the Belgian in on goal, with the little maestro running at his marker before cutting back inside from the byline and firing the ball through the legs of Fraser Forster from an acute angle.

The visitors were in command for the rest of the first half without causing any further real problems as their opponents enjoyed the majority of the possession, but didn't seriously threaten Thibaut Courtois.

Charlie Austin got on the end of Steve Davis' free-kick on the quarter-hour mark, but steered his header wide, while Jose Fonte couldn't keep his header down at the back post seven minutes later as the ball came in at the second attempt from a corner.

Courtois was called into action on 29 minutes when the hosts won a free-kick 22 yards out on the right, which Dusan Tadic fired low and forced the keeper into a save at his near post.

Moses then saw his strike from 12 yards out on the right deflected over the bar and Hazard looked to pick out the bottom right corner of the net with his shot from outside the area on 38 minutes, but Forster made a comfortable stop.

Forster had to be alert three minutes later as he denied Costa with his feet after the striker had been played in on goal by Matic, who won back possession just inside the Saints half.

The final action of the first half saw Austin head well over the target in the 45th minute, while the result was the same for Nemanja Matic five minutes after the restart after he got on the end of Costa's cross.

However, Costa beat Forster with a superb strike on 55 minutes to put the west Londoners firmly in the driving seat on the south coast. Hazard played a quick free-kick to the striker, who took a couple of touches before curling the ball into the right corner of the net from 22 yards out on the left.

The visitors almost made it 3-0 seven minutes later when Moses forced Forster to parry his shot, with Hazard slipping the ball to Costa a few yards out, but his pass to Pedro was a poor one as the Spaniard couldn't find space for a shot and the hosts cleared the danger.

Austin threatened to pull one back on 69 minutes when he headed narrowly over from six yards out after a good cross on the left from Ryan Bertrand.

Courtois was then fortunate to see the ball end up on the roof of his goal on 76 minute when David Luiz got the final touch as he challenged Davis to Cuco Martina's cross.

Moses tested Forster with a fierce left-footed strike from just outside the area with six minutes remaining after Costa had switched play from left to right to set the Nigerian on his way, while the final chance of the match saw Willian blaze wide from inside the area on the left.

Meanwhile, goals from Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley helped Everton to a 2-0 victory over West Ham United at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.

After a goalless first period, the deadlock was finally broken in the 50th minute, Lukaku converting from close range after Yannick Bolasie did well to keep the ball in play.

And the result was put to bed on 76 minutes, Barkley combining brilliantly with Lukaka before firing a half-volley into the bottom-left corner from the centre of the danger area.