Eden Hazard and Diego Costa were the difference in Southampton defeat, says Claude Puel

Southampton manager Claude Puel said Eden Hazard and Diego Costa proved the difference in Chelsea's win over Saints on Tuesday.

Costa netted twice and Hazard opened the scoring as Chelsea tightened their grip on the title with a 4-2 win over Southampton.

The win stretched Conte's side lead at the top to seven points.

Southampton enjoyed more possession than their hosts and registered 12 shots on goal at Stamford Bridge, however, Chelsea's clinical finishing from their two star men punished Puel's side.

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The Saints boss said: "It was a good collective performance with quality and we created opportunities - but we played a strong team with two fantastic players - Diego Costa and Eden Hazard - they made the difference tonight."

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said the key moment in the game was Gary Cahill's goal just before half-time that made it 2-1 to the hosts.

Puel was in agreement with his counterpart and was frustrated with the way his team allowed Chelsea to score twice from headers as both Cahill and Costa outmuscled Southampton defenders.

"The second goal was harsh as we had plenty of opportunities to be clinical," he said.

"It's a shame as we had the first opportunity but we conceded the first goal after five minutes and the second one just before half-time. Then just as we were coming back into the game they scored again - it was very bad for us.

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"In terms of quality, it was a good game for us without the clinical nature to finish opportunities."