Any chances of a title crisis were swatted away by Chelsea with panache, as the champions-in-waiting put Southampton to the sword to increase their lead in the English Premier League to seven points.
After a dire performance against Manchester United, in their last Premier League game, Chelsea, who bounced back from that defeat with a win in the FA Cup semifinal over Tottenham, their only rivals to the EPL title, found their attacking mojo at Stamford Bridge, with Diego Costa scoring a brace.
Eden Hazard opened the scoring, with a nicely taken finish into the corner off a pull back from Costa, before a few nervous murmurs could be heard amongst the Stamford Bridge crowd as Southampton equalised via Oriol Romeu, the former Blues midfielder.
However, Chelsea restored their lead through Gary Cahill, back in the team after missing the FA Cup semifinal through illness, just before halftime.
Costa made the game safe on 53 minutes with a wonderful strike, before completing his brace a minute from the 90.
Ryan Bertrand's goal in stoppage time was a mere consolation as Chelsea ran-out 4-2 winners.
"My players showed me a great will and desire to win the game," Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said.
"We passed a big psychological step after the defeat to United because we lost three points and then we had to prepare for a semifinal against Tottenham and another tough game in the league.
"I think we have had a really important test and our answer was very good so for this reason I must be pleased."
Chelsea now lead Spurs by seven points, with Tottenham playing their Premier League game on Wednesday, against the dangerous Crystal Palace, who have recently trumped the Blues, Arsenal and Liverpool.
If Tottenham do not manage to get a win, the race for the title will almost definitely be over, considering there will be only five matches remaining.
"We must think the race is open," Conte added. "We reached the final of the FA Cup but the league is totally open. We are ready to fight until the end and we must be proud of what we are doing this season.
"It's normal we have to push to try to keep this position until the end.
"The most important thing is to look at ourselves, tonight was a big win for us. Above all, when you have to play two-and-a-half days after a really strong game when we reached the final of the FA Cup. Now for us it's very important to try to fight and try to win the title."
EPL result: Chelsea 4-2 Southampton
Scorers: Chelsea: Eden Hazard (5), Gary Cahill (45+1), Diego Costa (53, 89). Southampton: Oriol Romeu (24), Ryan Bertrand (90+4).
Watch the highlights of Chelsea vs Southampton HERE and below
