Terry ends his drought to home in on top six
ANTONIO CONTE described himself as a magician before the game. Houdini more like.
This was his great escape – but he needed sub Michy Batshuayi to pull the rabbit out of the hat to ensure his act was not a disappearing one.
The Belgian scored twice to take the pressure off the Chelsea boss and combined with fellow sub Willian to end a run of two straight league defeats.
Watford had Chelsea tied up in knots for long periods but the victory dispelled rumours that Conte had lost the dressing room.
He dived into the crowd when Batshuayi equalised and was first to shake his hand at the end.
The last Chelsea coach to lose three in a row was Jose Mourinho in 2015 and he got the sack.
The scoreline was credit to Chelsea’s spirit but it flattered them.
Watford, who kicked off ahead of the Blues in the table, at times cut through them with such ease it was hard to work out who were the defending champions.
Marco Silva’s men had Chelsea chasing shadows with neat, one-touch football and fought ferociously to win the ball back.
The Hornets all looked comfortable on the ball and attacked from all positions. They should have put it to bed early but Richarlison missed two easy chances.
Silva said: “I felt we did not deserve to lose. Even leaving here with one point would have been unfair.
“We played some good football but their substitutes freshened things up.
“Richarlison has been good for us, has deserved his praise and he will score more this season.”
It was only when Cesc Fabregas started spraying the ball wide to Eden Hazard that Chelsea finally showed up.
Hazard, after winning a lucky corner, played a onetwo with Fabregas and then laid the ball back for Pedro to strike home a 12th-minute thunderbolt from 30 yards, the ball rocketing off the far post into the other corner.
There should have been a second five minutes later when Hazard and Alvaro Morata combined to put Fabregas totally clear but, with only Heurelho Gomes to beat, he foolishly chose to