FABRICE FERNANDES was the St Mary's hero last night as he scored Saints' first goal of the season.

Gordon Strachan has been singing the praises of the Frenchman ever since his switch to the right side of midfield in pre-season and it paid off in dramatic fashion against Chelsea.

The only downside to the game was Frank Lampard's 80th minute equaliser, which denied Strachan's men their first three points of the campaign.

Fernandes, a £1.1m signing from Rennes last year, said: "I am delighted with my goal. It is a good goal for team, the supporters and everybody.

"The team played well in the second half but Chelsea were good in attack. It is a shame we couldn't get the three points.

"Getting the goal is good for the season and for the future but I think now we have a game on Saturday against Tottenham and we will have to see what happens.

"I was pleased with the goal but I had a second chance which was easier.

"They are a strong team and play well on the counter attack and they have some very good strikers.

"But I am disappointed for the result because I thought the team played well."

Strachan was understandably delighted with his goalscorer and confessed: "I expected him to score and I expected him to score the second time as well when he had an easier chance.

"His performance and work rate was excellent he was brave and big on the ball.

"When you're a small lad you have to be special."

Fernandes's goal came on 51 minutes in a move which he started and finished.

It was the Frenchman who picked out Chris Marsden on the left and when the Chelsea defence failed to clear his cross Fernandes stepped in to curl a 20-yard left footed shot past Carlo Cudicini and into the net.

The goal was no less than Saints had deserved in a game in which they looked strong and restricted the visitors.

Chelsea were looking to utilise their two flying wingers Boudewijn Zenden and Jesper Gronkjaer but the Saints midfield and full backs were able to double up on them and cut out the supply route to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink who was substituted at half time.

The only time Claudio Ranieri's men looked like scoring was when that little Italian football genius Gianfranco Zola dropped deep to pick up the ball.

His vision and touch helped set-up two of Chelsea's best chances which both saw Eidur Gudjohnsen put through one-on-one with Paul Jones only to miss the target.

Another major plus point for Strachan will have been the performance of his Welsh goalkeeper.

He said the arrival of Antti Niemi was to put pressure on Jones and he reacted in the best way possible - with several good saves, a commanding performance and a faultless kicking display.

But there was little he could do when Chelsea equalised. Gudjohnsen threaded the ball through to Lampard who rode sliding challenges from Michael Svensson and Paul Williams to lift the ball over the Saints keeper.

Svensson, making his first full Premiership start, and Williams were commanding and no-nonsense as they continually stepped out to snuff out the danger before it happened.

Their ruggedness at the back combined with the hard work and determination of the midfield meant Saints had enough of the game to put the result beyond doubt before Chelsea equalised.

Other than Fernandes, the best Saints chances fell to James Beattie and Marian Pahars who have yet to find their scoring boots this season.

On 26 minutes Pahars's cross was met by Beattie who failed to make a clean contact with his head but still almost scored.

It looked for all the world as if Cudicini was beaten but somehow he managed to change the way he was moving and just push the ball away.

The Chelsea keeper was also forced to push away Wayne Bridge's swerving shot, with the England man again dangerous down the left with Marsden, who troubled the Blues defence with several out-swinging crosses.

In the second half Michael Svensson and Beattie just failed to make any meaningful contact with a Fernandes corner which only needed a decent touch to find the back of the net.

Then Rory Delap's long throw was flicked on by Beattie to Pahars who hit a shot first time from six-yards out which went agonisingly wide.

On 76 minutes Fernandes had the chance to put the game beyond Chelsea when substitute Jo Tessem, who later limped off with a dead leg, brushed aside Celestine Babayaro and pulled the ball back to the goalscorer, but this time the finish wasn't quite there.

After Chelsea levelled, Saints had one final scare with four minutes left as the away side protested that Marsden had handled in the area as he blocked a cross ,but the referee waved them away.