Watford v Chelsea – story of the match

Antonio Conte’s future as Chelsea boss was cast into further doubt as his 10 men were thrashed 4-1 by Watford on Monday night.

The Blues, who lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth last week, were poor again at Vicarage Road and had Tiemoue Bakayoko sent off inside half an hour.

Troy Deeney scored a penalty in the closing stages of the first half but Chelsea stayed in the contest and equalised through a magnificent Eden Hazard goal.

The visitors were not level for long, however, as Daryl Janmaat scored his own memorable effort to put Watford back in front before Gerard Deulofeu, man of the match on his home debut, and substitute Roberto Pereyra rounded off an emphatic win with breakaway goals.

Tweet of the match

Star man – Deulofeu

Deulofeu’s brilliant run and finish late on was no more than the forward deserved after a superb individual performance. It was his dart in behind that had earlier earned Watford their penalty, which Deeney converted, and his pace caused Chelsea problems all night long.

Stat attack

Watford beat Chelsea for the first time in 14 meetings in all competitions, their last victory coming in September 1999.

Moment of the match

Bakayoko was perhaps unlucky not to be given a final warning by referee Mike Dean after two clumsy, but fairly innocuous, challenges. But, on a yellow card, he should have known better than to go in late on Richarlison. His early dismissal capped a dreadful half hour for the midfielder and shaped the rest of the contest.

Ratings

Watford: Orestis Karnezis 6 (out of 10), Daryl Janmaat 8, Sebastian Prodl 7, Adrian Mariappa 7, Gerard Delofeu 9, Troy Deeney 7, Richarlison 7, Abdoulaye Doucoure 8, Marvin Zeegelaar 7, Jose Holebas 7, Etienne Capoue 7. Subs: Roberto Pereyra (for Richarlison, 65) 7, Andre Carrillo (for Deulofeu, 89) 5, Andre Gray (for Deeney, 90) 5.

Chelsea: Thibaut Courtois 5, N’Golo Kante 4, Eden Hazard 6, Pedro 3, Tiemoue Bakayoko 2, Victor Moses 4, Davide Zappacosta 3, Willian 4, Gary Cahill 4, Cesar Azpilicueta 4, David Luiz 3. Subs: Cesc Fabregas (for Willian, 34) 5, Olivier Giroud (for Pedro, 64) 5.

Who’s up next?

West Ham v Watford (Premier League, February 10)

Chelsea v West Brom (Premier League, February 12)