Read Simon Burnton’s match report:
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Eden Hazard speaks. “The goals mean a lot, especially because we won today as well,” he says. “I want to score more goals for the club and try to be a legend like Lampard, Terry and Drogba. When we are winning, we can enjoy more. My target, my focus is to score goals, as a winger, as a striker – or I can play centre-back. I missed a couple of chances today but I just needed to keep focused.” And how about this for a stat, courtesy of Opta: Hazard has been directly involved in 19 goals in the Premier League this season (10 goals, nine assists); the most of any player in the competition.
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Full-time: Watford 1-2 Chelsea
Eden Hazard’s double does the damage at Vicarage Road.
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90+3 min: Watford throw everybody up for a corner, including Ben Foster, but the hosts cannot force the ball goalwards.
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90 min: There will be four added minutes. We had plenty of drama in the first-half stoppage-time. A repeat of that would be asking a lot.
89 min: Chelsea have bodies forward as David Luiz tries to find Rudiger in the six-yard box, but Watford just about get it away.
88 min: Willian is adamant Holebas has fouled him as the Greek defender wins the ball in the apex of the 18-yard box. Martin Atkinson, like the rest of Vicarage Road, is unmoved. Seconds later, Willian’s deflected effort bobbles beyond Foster but just past the post.
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87 min: Capoue gets in a muddle as he attempts to break through the Chelsea lines. Kepa takes an age to play the goal-kick forward. Javi Gracia is desperately trying to gee the troops on the touchline.
86 min: Hazard has his eyes on the hat-trick, but has to make do with a corner. When it drops on the edge of the box, Jorginho is in acres of space and takes aim. It is always rising but, in the end, it is only just over Foster’s bar.
85 min: The sub is subbed, as Callum Hudson-Odoi is withdrawn and replaced by Emerson. Maurizio Sarri is quick to pat the youngster’s head as he leaves the pitch. Hudson-Odoi’s not had the most memorable game, it must be said.
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84 min: One substitute finds another, as Mariappa plays in Success but the Watford forward’s first touch inside the box lets him down.
82 min: Isaac Success replaces Gerard Deulofeu. And Success is involved in the thick of things straight away, with the free-kick fed into the box by Craig Cathcart. But, eventually, Chelsea clear their lines.
81 min: Capoue draws a foul on halfway. Watford have another golden chance to whip the ball into the box. Their delivery has to be better this time.
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79 min: And now Deeney flicks the ball just over the bar with the outside of his boot! It was a neat cross by Pereyra, and the Watford skipper maybe ended up getting too good a contact with the ball. It ended up looping over the Chelsea goal, whereas if he could have kept it down, Kepa would presumably have been beaten.
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78 min: Kante fires wide after a sweeping Chelsea counterattack! Hazard – again – does brilliantly. He slips in Kante a treat, but the Frenchman drags his effort just wide of Ben Foster’s goal. Chelsea should have extended their lead.
76 min: David Luiz fouls Troy Deeney, who was backing into the Brazilian. But the free-kick in is poor and Mariappa is penalised for fouling Luiz.
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74 min: In the end, Holebas’s free-kick comes to nothing. Kovacic headed the initial cross away, and then Deulofeu slipped through a cute ball through the heart of the Chelsea back line, but nobody was on quite the same wavelength. Kepa scoops the ball up and Chelsea go up the other end and a win a corner.
73 min: Quina wriggles away from Kante, and the Frenchman upends up the Watford teenager. It’s an inviting area, down the left flank, 20 yards or so out. Holebas will fancy it.
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72 min: Willian flashes wide! It’s a beautiful strike, but it whistles just past Ben Foster’s post. Kovacic did marvellously down the left before picking out Eden Hazard. He saw Willian on his radar, sliding the ball inside for the Brazilian to take aim but it falls just a few inches the wrong side of the post.
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71 min: Femenia raids down the right but Jorginho sees it out. The atmosphere has fallen very flat at Vicarage Road. Can Watford stir them?
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69 min: The ball is floated in towards David Luiz, but Watford head it away. The hosts have seemingly lost a little belief since Chelsea re-gained the lead.
68 min: Chelsea earn a free-kick down the left. Willian will swing it in ...
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67 min: Quina, who was at Chelsea as a youngster, replaces Ken Sema.
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66 min: Holebas and Deeney combine neatly down the left but the rub of the green eludes them. Watford are readying a change.
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65 min: Callum Hudson-Odoi has struggled to make a dent in the Watford back line, but he is not the only one. This has been one of those games where more or less everybody in a Chelsea shirt – bar Hazard – has flattered to deceive.
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63 min: Hazard’s second has quelled the hosts’ optimism, but the final pass continues to elude Chelsea. This has not been a vintage performance – not yet anyway. Watford win a goal-kick, and have the chance to re-build.
60 min: Kante – of all people – makes a rash pass in front of the 18-yard box but Watford cannot properly seize on his error. Doucoure quickly picks the ball up but his first-time pass for Deulofeu is just a little heavy, and the move breaks down. A half-chance for Watford to immediately restore parity. Chelsea continue to look panicked, despite having re-gained the lead.
GOAL! Watford 1-2 Chelsea (Hazard, 58 pen)
Hazard moves on to 101. Foster went the wrong way, unable to redeem himself as the Belgian hammers his penalty hard and low. Suddenly, Chelsea are back in pole position after being forced to soak up a swell of Watford pressure.
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57 min: Penalty to Chelsea! Ben Foster comes flying out and clatters Eden Hazard. Foster is booked ...
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55 min: Doucoure’s encouraged to have a pop from distance, but his effort is blocked after another slick Watford move. Sema was again involved down the right. Chelsea are all over the place, but get a little respite when Capoue is adjudged to have fouled David Luiz.
54 min: Deulofeu is grounded by David Luiz in the box – but Martin Atkinson’s not having any of it! The Chelsea defender comes across his man, but the Spaniard does collapse fairly easily. You’ve seen them given, and all that. It would have been soft. Watford are upping the ante, Chelsea look a little bewildered.
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53 min: A poor Kepa clearance plays Chelsea into trouble, and then the goalkeeper ends up hoofing clear to allow Watford to gain more ground. Jose Holebas has picked up a calf injury, but he’s trying to soldier on.
52 min: Deulofeu does well, jinking in from the right before Doucoure lays the ball on deftly for an overlapping Sema. But Ken Sema’s a little clumsy and it is a bit Bambi on ice as he shapes to shoot at goal. Chelsea clear their lines once more.
50 min: Deeney revs up the home crowd, soaking up the adulation from the Watford fans after bullying Willian off the ball, before winning a throw-in out of David Luiz. In the end, the attack breaks down but it’s another example of where Watford can hurt Chelsea. Watford are really charged up for this.
48 min: Alonso retrieves a heavy Aziplicueta cross, before Jorginho takes hold of the ball on halfway. Chelsea probe down the left through Willian before Doucoure forces the visitors back towards halfway. Then Chelsea play a through ball in for Kante, but it’s pacy and the midfielder cannot get it under control.
47 min: Sema attempts to wriggle away from Marcos Alonso down the right, but the Chelsea defender does well to stand his ground. Then Deulofeu tries to anticipate the high ball forward but David Luiz reads it well. Watford look pretty dangerous every time they pile forward.
46 min: Hazard gets the ball rolling in the second half.
Half-time: Watford 1-1 Chelsea
A lively end to the first half, with Roberto Pereyra cancelling out Eden Hazard’s strike. Two well-taken goals tee up the next 45 minutes nicely.
GOAL! Watford 1-1 Chelsea (Pereyra, 45+4)
What a sweet strike, a wonderful volley – though Chelsea’s marking leaves a lot to be desired. After denying Doucoure, Chelsea concede a corner, which is sprayed out to the edge of the box, where Roberto Pereyra is lurking. Left alone, and with time to take aim, he strikes low into the corner to equalise.
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45+3 min: Deeney supplies Doucoure, but the Watford midfielder takes too long to let fly and Kepa smothers. We are into the third of four added minutes.
GOAL! Watford 0-1 Chelsea (Hazard, 45+1)
And that’s his 100th Chelsea goal. Capoue plays a poor pass to Doucoure, and Mateo Kovacic frees Hazard. The Belgian bears down on Ben Foster, who goes to ground as the playmaker rounds him and fires home. Hazard is the 10th Chelsea player to score a century of goals for the club.
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44 min: Christian Kabasele has been taken to hospital following that incident inside the first 15 minutes. The defender went flying into the goalpost attempting to block Willian’s effort.
42 min: Pedro cannot continue. On comes Callum Hudson-Odoi. Olivier Giroud remains on the bench. “But why not play Giroud?” emails Nate Elliott. “I worry Sarri is both fielding a weaker team than he could, and also alienating Hazard at a crucial moment.” Rob Coughlin adds: “This is harder to watch than when we parked the bus.” Chelsea have hardly been free-flowing.
40 min: Capoue does superbly to slice the ball away from Pedro’s grasp, after a sublime piece of skill by Hazard. The Belgian slinked away from a couple of Watford shirts on halfway, with the hosts getting sucked in and Hazard led the attack through the yellow-and-black striped spine. Mariappa made a hefty, but fair, challenge on Hazard to dispossess the forward, but it ran kindly for Pedro. And then Capoue intercepted. Pedro appears to have a problem as a result of the collision though.
39 min: Watford furiously press the Chelsea back line, with Deulofeu and Deeney leading the charge. As the ball is pinged into Kante, there is Capoue to meet him. Chelsea have undoubtedly had the best chance this half, but Watford have looked relatively comfortable in both boxes. Deeney’s growing into this one too.
36 min: Deulofeu does really well, after Jorginho lost possession. The winger easily bypasses Rudiger, but David Luiz gets across to deny Deeney, blocking the striker’s effort after Deulofeu picked him out in space. Chelsea have looked vulnerable at the back, with Deulofeu finding joy in the channels.
35 min: That was a sitter for Hazard. Meanwhile, Deulofeu is adamant he was clipped by David Luiz approaching the byline but the referee is having none of it. Chelsea re-build from the back. A penny for the thoughts of Morata as Hazard missed that effort a moment ago. That was bread and butter for any striker.
32 min: Hazard misses a tap-in! Pedro sprays it out to Azpilicueta on the right, who fizzes a lovely low ball across goal. There is Hazard, but the Chelsea forward attempts to flick the ball goalwards with his right foot, as opposed to just hammering it home from inside the six-yard box. That should have been the opener.
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31 min: Watford break well down the left, with Deeney outmuscling Rudiger, but as the ball is cut back to Ken Sema on the edge of the box after good work by Pererya, the defender gets his effort all wrong.
30 min: Cries of “Attack, attack, attack!” from the away end, with Chelsea stuttering as they get into the final third. Watford look pretty comfortable with Chelsea playing in front of them, squeezing the space that Hazard and co to work with.
29 min: Kante searches for Azpilicueta, but the Chelsea defender cannot reach his pass and Watford will take their time over the goal-kick. It’s not been a classic so far.
27 min: Chelsea work the ball nicely, with Hazard, Jorginho and Pedro linking nicely, but the latter overcooks his cross from the right.
26 min: Jorginho blocks Doucoure’s effort! The Watford midfielder uses Deulofeu nicely, cutting inside Rudiger in the box before the Italian gets across to cut out his effort. That was a promising move by the hosts.
25 min: Hazard tries to pick out Willian on the edge of the area, but Chelsea are always looking for the perfect pass, when something less pure might just do the trick. Mariappa has his hands full with Hazard running at him, but Chelsea, with the Belgian as a false nine, keep probing.
22 min: Hazard runs past a couple of Watford shirts and towards the heart of the Hornets’ defence, but is eventually grounded.
21 min: Jorginho tries to find Alonso, but Watford hound the full-back out. Chelsea, without a recognised striker, look a little predictable.
20 min: Mariappa’s clearance is not brilliant, and he thuds the ball into Willian. And then Ben Foster picks out Pedro. Eventually Watford clear their lines after almost playing themselves into trouble. Deeney goes down after a good-natured clash with Rudiger, but he is soon back up on his feet and getting on with it.
18 min: Holebas’ deep free-kick catches Chelsea cold, with the Blues back line evidently expecting Pererya to deliver from the right. Holebas dinks a cross to the back post, where Ken Sema is lurking. Marcos Alonso gets blocked from trying to reach it, but Sema fails to control the ball and the attack fizzles out.
16 min: Gerard Deulofeu plays a devious ball in from the right flank, with Doucoure stooping to meet it, but he fails to get sufficient contact on the header. His faint touch does cause a moment’s panic, with Deeney alert in the box but Kepa is soon there to swoop on the ball and sweep away the danger.
14 min: In more Christian Kabasele news, the Belgian defender is now hobbling off in obvious pain. His back took a real whack from the post. Mariappa’s on.
13 min: Good news for Watford: Kabasele’s back on.
12 min: For now, Etienne Capoue has dropped in to centre-half alongside Craig Cathcart. Kabasele is up and walking, jogging even. Maybe Mariappa will not be needed after all.
11 min: It looks as though Christian Kabasele is going to be stretchered off. They have Adrian Mariappa on the bench, with Javi Gracia pondering a change. He may be forced into one. Kabasele is – just about – off the pitch, but within close proximity to the white lines of Foster’s 18-yard box.
9 min: Chelsea hit the post! Willian is played in by Hazard, and the Brazilian hares forward, rounds Ben Foster but strikes the upright from an acute angle. Kabasele, in his efforts to sweep the ball clear, clatters the post. Well and truly. That was a fine counter by Chelsea, seconds after a really lax pass out from goal by Kepa – but Deulofeu was unable to punish him. Kepa played a sloppy hospital pass out towards Kovacic, Gerard Deulofeu nipped in but could not backheel into the path of Troy Deeney. Chelsea got away with it, and were within inches of an opener.
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6 min: Doucoure gets a bit sloppy after claiming the ball in front of the Watford back four. But as he dallies, Pedro steals in to nick it away. He cannot fashion much more than a glimpse of goal but, on his toes, he looks up for this.
4 min: Gerard Deulofeu tries to take a high ball over his shoulder on the half-turn, but cannot quite pull it off. Almost. Chelsea regain possession, with Luiz and Rudiger happy to patiently build from the back, via Kovacic.
3 min: Pedro does really well, linking neatly with Willian before pulling the trigger. He collects the ball out wide on the right, before dancing inside. He ends up in a central position, at which point he opts to have a go at goal. It’s a bending effort – though it drops off target. A half-decent start by Chelsea.
2 min: Chelsea raid down the left through Marcos Alonso, but Ben Foster, who has been in supreme form of late, does well to prevent a corner.
1 min: Chelsea have plenty of the ball in the first stages, with David Luiz dictating things at the back and Kepa getting a couple of early touches.
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Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Gerard Deulofeu gets us under way at Vicarage Road.
We have had Z-Cars, and the rest of the pre-match formalities. Kick-off is imminent. Meanwhile, Arsenal were left frustrated by Brighton in Sussex, with goalkeeper Bernd Leno arguably at fault:
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Javi Gracia talks. “We are happy in this moment. We have had two very good results but this is a different game, against a very good team and we are ready to play. Maurizio Sarri, who confirms Chelsea striker Morata is fit, and just not selected, adds: “We need to think as a team, we need to believe in our football and we need to have another reaction when we face difficulties.”
Both teams are unchanged, but the absence of Álvaro Morata speaks volumes. The Spaniard does not even make the bench, on which it is a double-barrelled like-for like: Callum Hudson-Odoi replaces Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Chelsea are expected to hold further talks with Juventus and Milan over Gonzalo Higuaín, with a view to a transfer next month. The Argentina forward is on loan at Milan but that arrangement may be cancelled to permit Higuaín, who played under Sarri at Napoli, to move to Stamford Bridge in a similar arrangement. Milan would be interested in Morata on loan. There is also Chelsea interest in Lyon’s Nabil Fekir while Gary Cahill, Victor Moses, Danny Drinkwater and Michy Batshuayi, who has been offered to Crystal Palace, are expected to depart.
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The teams!
Watford: Foster, Kabasele, Cathcart, Holebas, Femenía, Doucouré, Capoue, Sema, Pereyra, Deulofeu, Deeney
Subs: Gomes, Mariappa, Masina, Cleverley, Quina, Success, Okaka
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Rüdiger, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Alonso, Jorginho, Kovacic, Kanté, Pedro, Hazard, Willian
Subs: Caballero, Cahill, Emerson, Fabregas, Barkley, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud
Referee: Martin Atkinson
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Preamble
Feeling stuffed, but still have room for dessert? Then strap in for Chelsea’s visit to Vicarage Road, under the lights in all of it’s glory. Maurizio Sarri played the role of the Grinch, the festive killjoy, in the buildup to this one, stating he only had eyes for the “the 26th, not the 25th”. Chelsea slipped up against Leicester last time out, and the Italian is determined to get his team back on song. “We have to think about the reaction,” Sarri said. Chelsea have lost three of their last six, in fact, while Watford are on the hunt for a third win on the spin. “We know it will be very demanding for us because we are playing against one of the best teams in the league,” Javi Gracia, the Watford head coach, said. “It’s not easy because they have a very good mechanism to attack, and they have very good players with different options.”
Kick-off: 7.30pm (GMT)
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