Watford vs Chelsea match report: Blues extend unbeaten run to 10 games in goalless draw

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A point at Watford is no longer to be sniffed at. This was a match Chelsea might have lost earlier in the campaign. There were few flares let off in a gritty, hard-fought encounter, and you know who excels on occasions such as these.

Yes, the name of John Terry was the one on the lips of the Chelsea faithful as the clock ran down, a typically aggressive burst out of defence in an attempt to rouse his team one more time. Terry had his hands full all night keeping Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney quiet, but never took a backward step, the fallout from his contract poker game having nil impact on him.

Elsewhere, interim coach Guus Hiddink would have learned far more from this yeoman arm wrestle than the parade through Milton Keynes in the FA Cup on Sunday. If he does persuade his masters to retain the services of Terry, Hiddink will have done the club a service.

If the likes of Willian and Oscar get itchy feet, however, that would be a different matter. If Chelsea are to feature at the top of the table next season, both would benefit from whatever Terry had last night.

Though out of the equation at the top, Chelsea might yet have a significant hand in the coronation with their final three home fixtures of the season against Manchester City, Tottenham and Leicester, in that order, the latter closing the campaign. Of the present top five, only Arsenal do not have to face Chelsea again. Manchester United are first up on Sunday.

The Premier League has provided rich and unpredictable entertainment this season but few would argue it is the better for Chelsea’s improbable decline, though we acknowledge the dramatic value of Jose Mourinho’s fall.

Watford’s station as top-10 campaigners is further proof of the growing levelling-out in the Premier League, as is the hitherto modest club spending millions on five players in the January transfer window, including two quickly farmed out on loan to Granada.

The charismatic Spaniard at the helm, Quique Sanchez Flores, hardly knew whether disappointment or elation was the appropriate response to occupying 10th place ahead of Chelsea’s visit. At one point his team threatened to emulate Leicester’s trajectory.

Then again, at the outset none would have been surprised if Watford experienced the lot of Aston Villa, Sunderland and Newcastle. Irrespective of last night’s result Watford were guaranteed to remain above their august opponents, which neatly sums up this mad cabaret.

Hiddink made four changes from the Chelsea side that whupped MK Dons in the FA Cup on Sunday, the most significant of which was Eden Hazard being withdrawn to the bench.

The game was six minutes old when Terry, at the centre of yet more political manoeuvring at Stamford Bridge, was drawn into the match for the first time, yielding a corner with a block on the dangerous Ighalo. You wondered if Terry might not have been better served keeping his powder dry until after this assignment given the potential for embarrassment at the feet of Ighalo. Then again, heroic resistance was always his credo.

Watford display all the features of an ambitious, upwardly mobile team, organised in the current fashion into a compact shape with explosive elements up front. Ighalo, Deeney, Jose Manuel Jurado and Étienne Capoue were all a persistent nuisance in the opening period.

One mazy dribble by Jurado in the 27th minute was a case in point and led to a stinging shot from Capoue that drew a smart save from Thibaut Courtois. It was the Belgian’s second intervention within minutes after being tested by a Sebastian Prödl header from a corner.

Chelsea’s first real crack at goal came in the 32nd minute on the break, Diego Costa racing on to a speculative long ball. The Spaniard had plenty to do to get a shot away, and though he won a corner, Chelsea made nothing of it. The longer the half went on the more Chelsea pursued the aerial route, seeking out the willing Costa.

The tactic reflected Watford’s dominance of the middle of the park at the expense of the largely decorative Willian and Oscar. Ben Watson deserves special mention in this regard, a critical cog at the base of the Watford midfield who did much to anchor the defensive effort.

The half ended in unnecessary acrimony with Costa at the heart of it, taking an illegal blow from Juan Carlos Paredes after first bringing his opponent to the ground. The usual posturing ensued, sundry quasi-hardmen from each side throwing their weight about before both Costa and Paredes were booked.

Hiddink would have told his team they would need to improve to maintain their upswing in momentum, and though they opened the second half with a speculative effort from Jon Obi Mikel that required the attention of a back-pedalling Heurelho Gomes, Watford moved with greater fluency and purpose.

Costa was the all-too-obvious out ball for Chelsea while in the service of Watford Ighalo and Deeney offered twice the threat. With Cesc Fabregas continuing to labour in the Chelsea midfield and Nemanja Matic and Mikel flatlining, Costa had insufficient support behind him.

Hiddink recognised the problem and with 20 minutes left sent out Hazard for Matic. It had increasingly become a night for keeping the mistakes to a minimum and hoping talent would win out at some point. It was not to be for either side.