Watford vs Chelsea LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight
Relive all the action as the Premier League leaders visited Claudio Ranieri’s side at Vicarage Road
Chelsea maintained their lead at the top of the Premier League as Hakim Ziyech came off the bench to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Watford on Wednesday.
Thomas Tuchel’s side were not at their best at Vicarage Road but had enough attacking quality to emerge with three important points and stay ahead of Manchester City and Liverpool.
After a 32-minute suspension while a fan was treated for a medical emergency, Chelsea took the lead when Mason Mount coolly converted after a well-worked move in the 29th minute.
But Watford deservedly levelled before the break through Nigerian Emmanuel Dennis.
Ziyech came on for injured defender Trevoh Chalobah on the hour and struck the winner 12 minutes later with the outstanding Mount turning provider.
Chelsea lead the standings with 33 points from 14 games, with City on 32 and Liverpool on 31.
Claudio Ranieri’s side will take heart from the way they pushed the league leaders but are just one place and three points above the relegation zone.
Tuchel made six changes from the side that drew with Manchester United at the weekend and Chelsea looked disjointed for much of the evening.
Watford were the better team either side of the suspension but fell behind to Chelsea’s first move of quality.
The ball was played to Marcos Alonso down the left and he slipped the ball into Kai Havertz who shifted it across to the unmarked Mount who had time to pick his spot.
Watford responded well and equalised when Moussa Sissoko powered forward and played in Dennis whose shot took a deflection on its way past Edouard Mendy.
The hosts could have been ahead with Mendy making a fine save and Sissoko scuffing a decent opportunity.
The quality on Chelsea’s bench eventually told, however, as Ziyech came on to secure the points.
Mount was played into space down the left and his low cross was met by Ziyech whose powerful first-time shot beat Watford keeper Daniel Bachmann for pace.
Watford 0-1 Chelsea
38 mins: A nasty clash of heads between Loftus-Cheek and Troost-Ekong sees play stopped as both player receive treatment.
Watford 0-1 Chelsea
35 mins: SAVE! Strong stop again from Mendy to keep Chelsea in front! Watford swing the ball over from the right and it makes its way all the through to Danny Rose, who volleys into the ground from the angle. Mendy, to be fair, makes it look easy as he palms the volley clear.
Watford 0-1 Chelsea
32 mins: NO GOAL! Chelsea have the ball in the net but Kai Havertz was offside when he received the slipped ball from Pulisic.
Lovely finish though.
GOAL! Watford 0-1 Chelsea (MOUNT 29’)
Brilliant goal from Chelsea as they take the lead, you have to say, against the run of play! Rudiger starts the move with a clipped ball down the left to Alonso, who timed his run well before taking it down with a lovely touch. He cut it back to Havertz who then squared to Mount, who buried the finish past Bachmann.
Watford 0-0 Chelsea
25 mins: Rose snaps into a tackle on Azpilicueta as he looked to receive the switch of play from Mendy. Watford have maintained their fast start and are getting right up into Chelsea’s faces - the visitors have not enjoyed that so far.
Watford 0-0 Chelsea
25 mins: Rose snaps into a tackle on Azpilicueta as he looked to receive the switch of play from Mendy. Watford have maintained their fast start and are getting right up into Chelsea’s faces - the visitors have not enjoyed that so far.
Watford 0-0 Chelsea
23 mins: Chalobah concedes possession cheaply as Rose steals in to intercept on the edge of the Chelsea box. Rudiger clears his cross before Watford sent it long into the box again, but Chalobah is there to clean up with a composed header back to Mendy.
Watford 0-0 Chelsea
20 mins: Chelsea flight the ball over the top to Havertz, who brings it down and lays it off to Mount. Watford are able to recover and the Chelsea move breaks down, but that was their first spell of possession inside the Watford half.
Watford 0-0 Chelsea
19 mins: POST! Chelsea strike the woodwork with their first effort of the match! The ball breaks to Mason Mount in the box after Loftus-Cheek nods it on, but the midfielder’s fierce volley from the angle rattles the frame of the goal!
Watford 0-0 Chelsea
17 mins: Louza hits his first effort into the wall before dragging the rebound wide of goal - bit of a waste, that.
Chelsea need to wake up here, as Watford still look as sharp as they were before the stoppage.
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