JEERS TO CHEERS!
After dreadful first half, Chelsea turn on the burners to rejoin Europe’s elite
Maurizio Sarri stood at the edge of the Stamford Bridge tunnel area and perused the scenes unfolding around him.
as Chelsea’s players wandered around the perimeter of the pitch for their customary lap of honour, Sarri awkwardly watched on by his dugout, a dispassionate onlooker amid the acclaim.
a couple of hours later, owing to the incompetence of arsenal at home to Brighton, qualification for next season’s Champions League was assured.
in a flash, Sarri has fulfilled the principal requirement of his job.
His team are back in the Champions League, and, should matters go to plan in the semi-final return leg against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League, the italian coach will have guided the Blues to two finals and a top-four finish in his debut season. By any measure, it is an impressive campaign.
Strange, then, that Sarri remains so sorely unloved on home turf.
Managers usually join their players for the end-of-season ovation but here Sarri hedged his bets and avoided any further discord.
on the half-time whistle, the familiar jeers came in earnest. Chelsea were goalless, toothless and staring down the barrel of a nerve-shredding week.
For Sarri, it has often been that kind of season. The supporters at Stamford Bridge turned on their manager some time ago but now even the sceptical locals must cut the 60-year-old some slack.
albeit aided by the faults of rivals such as Manchester united and arsenal, Chelsea are back among the elite and have even overtaken Tottenham in the table.
Chelsea’s summer may yet be disrupted by a transfer ban but Sarri has at least completed his side of the bargain.
There was also a show of goodwill from Sarri when, with his team leading by three second-half goals, he gave Gary Cahill, Chelsea’s departing outcast, a farewell to the home support.
His team are still a riddle of contradictions, a side with glaring vulnerabilities but also capable of igniting the switch at a moment’s notice.
indeed, many of their flaws reemerged during a rather desperate opening period in which Watford were by far the superior side. The Hornets breathed down the necks of Chelsea’s sluggish midfielders Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho, as abdoulaye Doucoure dominated the central acres and Will Hughes snapped into challenges.
There was cause for concern too as N’Golo Kante departed through injury within the opening 10 minutes. The Frenchman will now miss the Frankfurt game on Thursday.
‘i made a mistake,’ said Sarri. ‘Probably, today he had to rest.’
‘Sometimes it’s very difficult to put on the bench a player so important like Hazard, like Kante, but you have to do it. We have to wait until tomorrow, but it’s difficult to recover him for the next two matches.’
Javi Gracia’s side created the clearest early openings. Troy Deeney asserted his aerial qualities while his strike partner Gerard Deulofeu ran the channels.
Deulofeu had the first sight of goal, racing away, checking back and dragging a strike wide.
Deeney then directed a header towards the top corner only for Kepa arrizabalaga to produce the best save of his debut season.
Deulofeu flashed another shot past the post and Doucoure was just unable to control the ball after a high-paced counter raid.
Chelsea, meanwhile, struggled for a foothold. For the first half-hour, Eden Hazard was as quiet as at any time this season while Gonzalo Higuain, Chelsea’s mannequin of a striker, again underwhelmed.
Sarri said: ‘in the first half, we were in trouble because we were tired: physically and mentally.’
When half-time came, Chelsea were still to record a corner.
Fortunately for the hosts, this statistic swiftly changed in the second half and acted as the catalyst for the game to swing Chelsea’s way. a short routine found its way to Hazard, who clipped a ball to the far post where ruben LoftusCheek rose to head home.
Watford manager Gracia said: ‘We didn’t take the chances or confirm our dominance.
‘We have to be more clinical and aggressive in both areas. We knew they would do the short corner.’
Three minutes later, Hazard whipped over a cross from the right and David Luiz headed past Ben Foster. The two-goal deficit did little to damage Watford’s
spirit but the route to goal was blocked by Arrizabalaga, the woodwork and then the assistant referee’s flag.
Jose Holebas struck the bar, and when Watford did finally hit the target, Andre Gray was ruled offside when he turned the ball in after roberto Pereyra’s free-kick had curled against the post.
But chelsea were also attacking with finesse and even Higuain awoke from his slumber to clip the third beyond Foster.