Chelsea produced one of their most dominant performances of the season against FA Cup finalists Watford to take advantage of Tottenham’s latest slip up and move to third in the table with just a game to go.
The 3-0 scoreline suggests that the Blues never even had to break sweat in order to dispose of Javi Gracia’s high flying Watford side, but the first half went right down to the form book.
Troy Deeney bullied the Chelsea backline into submission, with David Luiz and Andreas Christensen being dragged across the pitch in search of runners off the ball, whilst loose possession ensured Eden Hazard and Pedro were left isolated for much of the half.
Two goals in three second-half minutes swung the game in Chelsea’s favour dramatically.
Having been second best for much of the previous 45, Maurizio Sarri instructed his players to start strongly, and they heeded his words to perfection as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, an early substitute for the injured N’Golo Kante and David Luiz both nodded home to put the Blues firmly in control.
Veteran striker Gonzalo Higuain grabbed just his fifth goal for the club with 15 minutes to play, latching onto Pedro’s slide pass to finish confidently, as Chelsea rounded off their last home game in a style unbeknown to a fanbase so starved of free-flowing attacking football this season.
Here’s how I rated the Chelsea players’ performance.
