Chelsea say Wat the heck!
Watford hand EPL champions a humiliating defeat
Ten-man Chelsea suffered another setback in their stumbling season as they lost 4-1 at Watford on Monday after conceding three late goals to suffer their second straight English Premier League defeat.
Daryl Janmaat, Gerard Deulofeu and Roberto Pereyra all scored late on after Eden Hazard had dragged Chelsea back into the game with a curling shot in the 82nd minute.
Mid-table Watford had taken the lead in the 43rd with a Troy Deeney penalty after Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois brought down on-loan Barcelona winger Gerard Deulofeu. By that stage, Chelsea were down to 10 men after midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko was booked twice in the space of a few minutes before the half-hour mark.
Watford responded quickly to Hazard’s equaliser as Janmaat exchanged passes with Pereyra before shooting past Courtois.
Deulofeu sealed the win in the 88th before Pereyra put the icing on the cake with their fourth goal in added time. Chelsea cruised to the title in coach Antonio Conte’s first year in England last season but they are 19 points behind runaway leaders Manchester City and are focused on finishing in the top four Champions League qualification spots. Chelsea sit in fourth spot, a point behind third-placed Liverpool and one ahead of Tottenham in fifth.
Chelsea players remain supportive of manager Antonio Conte despite suffering a second successive three-goal defeat, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has said. Five days after losing 3-0 at home to Bournemouth, Chelsea’s defence of their league title hit a new low when they were beaten 4-1 at Watford.
“We believe in him and we believe in our team. We have two bad results and we just try to get back, regroup and just continue,” Courtois told his club’s website.
“Obviously we are disappointed with the two results we have had in the last week, obviously it is not good, but we have to regroup in training, have heads high and continue the hard work and just continue what we were doing. We have now two bad losses but we are a team with the manager, and everyone is positive about that, and we will try to do our best to win next week.”
It was Chelsea’s first back-to-back three-goal defeats for the first time since 1995.
“We showed that we wanted to fight, even with 10 men, and that shows we have character, but when you lose twice like that, it is not good and there are questions raised, but we go back to training with the manager, and training well and turn this situation around,” Courtois added.