Watford vs Man City LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction
Follow all the latest updates as the champions visit Vicarage Road
A potentially pivotal day in the title race, which began in east London before late drama at Wolverhampton, ended with Manchester City fans singing “We are top of the league” into the cold evening air at Vicarage Road. Chelsea’s defeat at West Ham opened the door and City swaggered through with a dominant 3-1 win over Watford, most notable for the joyful brilliance of Bernardo Silva.
If Mohamed Salah is the early frontrunner for the Premier League’s player of the season, Bernardo is his nearest rival making a concerted charge. The Portuguese scored two sublime goals here, the first exhibiting his delicate touch in tight spaces, the second showing off the accuracy of his unerring left foot. City rarely rely on the gift of a single star but sometimes one comes to the fore – think of Kevin De Bruyne in 19/20, or Ilkay Gundogan last season – and this feels unequivocally like the year of Bernardo.
Follow all the latest rection below to Man City’s win at Watford.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
17 mins: Brilliant from Rice to turn away from Loftus-Cheek and Alonso and drive West Ham forward. Lanzini takes up possession but the play comes back after Rice was hauled down by Alonso. Rice looks to pick out Antonio at the back post from the free-kick and Loftus-Cheek is forced to clear for a corner.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
16 mins: Now it’s West Ham’s turn to have some possession in the Chelsea half, their first real spell on the ball of the match so far, but Christensen is able to win it back from Antonio after getting tight to the forward.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
13 mins: West Ham drop off slightly as Chelsea knock the ball around outside of their box. Lots of touches here for Mount, Ziyech and Jorginho, but it ends in Mount’s cross being blocked by Coufal and Rudiger fouling Bowen.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
11 mins: Sharp play from Chelsea. Mount makes another run down the inside channel and cuts it back to Havertz at the front post, but he can’t squeeze it inside Fabianski’s near post. It looked like Mount was a fraction offside anyway.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
10 mins: Save! James drifts inside to a central position before testing Fabianski with a dipping shot from 20 yards. That could have been awkward for the goalkeeper but it sat up nicely for him.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
9 mins: More sloppy play from Chelsea, and again from Thiago, as they give the ball away in their defensive third. Antonio hangs the ball towards Soucek, who wins the header but can’t direct it on target.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
8 mins: Thiago Silva passes the ball straight to Bowen on the halfway line, leading to a first shot at goal from the hosts. Bowen didn’t have any options ahead of him as Chelsea backed off, and his shot from the angle was high and wide of Mendy’s top corner.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
6 mins: Chelsea work the ball out to James and the wing-back’s cross takes a deflection off Johnson and almost breaks to Ziyech in the box. Fabianski is able to smother the ball.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
5 mins: Rice turns away from pressure from Mount and then Ziyech with some nice play in midfield. West Ham have yet to get out of their own half though and it’s been a quiet start to this London derby.
West Ham 0-0 Chelsea
3 mins: The return of James and his delivery from the right and set-pieces is a massive boost to Chelsea today. Rice rises highest to head clear a free-kick swung into the box.
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