Watford 1-2 Chelsea: Abraham and Pulisic on target as Lampard’s Blues go third

Watford 1-2 Chelsea: Abraham and Pulisic on target as Lampard’s Blues go third

Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic scored in either half as Chelsea beat Watford 2-1 to move up to third with their fifth straight Premier League win.

The Blues took an early lead against their bottom-of-the-table hosts when Abraham reached Jorginho’s pass and guided the ball over Ben Foster.

Watford’s goalkeeper denied Abraham, Pulisic and Mason Mount before Chelsea’s United States international – who scored a hat-trick against Burnley last weekend – turned home Abraham’s cross 10 minutes into the second half.

Gerard Deulofeu scored an 80th-minute penalty – one that was only awarded by VAR following a lengthy delay – but Frank Lampard’s side held on to climb above Leicester City in the table.

These two. #WATCHE pic.twitter.com/yXlS6NqL7q

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 2, 2019

Watford were up against it after just five minutes when Abraham registered his ninth league goal of the season, though it was his first in five games for the Blues.

The England striker latched onto a brilliant first-time throughball from Jorginho, capitalised on hesitation between Craig Dawson and Foster and poked his finish over the Watford goalkeeper.

Abraham had a great chance to add a second when a deflected Mount shot fell kindly to him, yet he was thwarted by Foster, who then did brilliantly to tip Pulisic’s header behind.

Deulofeu fired Watford’s first chance of note wide and the Hornets were fortunate to only be one goal behind at the break after Foster pushed Mount’s driven effort onto the crossbar.

The goalkeeper denied Mount again early in the second half too, though he was unable to prevent Pulisic turning in Abraham’s cross for his fourth goal in eight days.

Pulisic nearly had another but Foster flicked out his left foot and the Hornets had hope when they were awarded a penalty 10 minutes from time.

Referee Anthony Taylor was unmoved when Deulofeu went to ground after Jorginho flicked a leg out and though the Spaniard appeared to take another step after the contact before going to ground, the spot-kick was awarded following a VAR review.

There was nearly a dramatic conclusion to proceedings when the brilliant Foster, up in Chelsea’s box for a free-kick, headed towards goal but Kepa Arrizabalaga denied him in the final act as the visitors held on.

What does it mean? Blues bounce back to win again

Lampard’s squad have encountered few setbacks in recent weeks, but the Blues boss will be delighted they got back to winning ways following their EFL Cup loss to Manchester United in midweek.

After Arsenal were held to a draw by Wolves, Chelsea now have a six-point cushion over the fifth-placed Gunners. Meanwhile, Watford remain winless and look like relegation fodder.

Abraham has another away day to remember

One of the main reasons for Chelsea’s fine form on their travels has been Abraham, and he was involved in both goals here.

He was clinical in scoring the opener and then showed an unselfish side to pick out Pulisic.

Dawson’s meek

On the two occasions Chelsea players wheeled away in celebration, Watford centre-back Dawson was left looking around wondering how they had scored.

He was flat-footed and caught out when Jorginho whipped the pass through for Abraham early on and then failed to cut the ball out at the near post when Pulisic made it 2-0.

Key Opta facts

– Chelsea have won seven consecutive away games in all competitions – their joint-longest winning run on the road in the club’s history (also seven between February and April 1989 under Bobby Campbell).
– Watford have failed to win any of their opening 11 games to a league season for the first time in their history (D5 L6). They are the first team to do so in the Premier League since QPR in 2012-13.
– Tammy Abraham has scored seven goals in his six away appearances in the league this season – only Kevin Phillips in 1999-00, Edin Dzeko in 2011-12 and Sergio Aguero in 2016-17 (all eight) have scored more in their opening six away games.
– Christian Pulisic has been directly involved in nine goals for Chelsea in all competitions (4 goals and 5 assists) – only Abraham (12) has been involved in more.
– Gerard Deulofeu scored his first goal from his 26th shot in the Premier League in the 2019-20 campaign – his shot conversion rate of 3.8 per cent is the joint-lowest of players to score in the competition (along with Nicolas Pepe).

What’s next?

Chelsea will look to take a significant step towards qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League when they host Ajax on Tuesday before entertaining Crystal Palace in the Premier League in Saturday’s early kick-off.

Watford will begin that round of fixtures with a crucial Friday night encounter with Norwich, who are only two points above them.