Giroud on target as Chelsea stay on the right path
CHELSEA moved back into the top four and banished Wednesday’s shock defeat to West Ham in convincing fashion.
Olivier Giroud opened the scoring before Willian’s spot-kick before the interval put the game beyond struggling Watford. Ross Barkley added a late third.
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard said: ‘We played some nice stuff. We were under pressure after the loss to West Ham in midweek but we bounced back well.’
There was plenty of endeavour but little incision during the opening quarter. Chelsea dominated possession while Watford chased their opponents assiduously around the pitch, denying them space and limiting their goalscoring opportunities.
However, the breakthrough came on 28 minutes and it showed Chelsea at their best.
N’Golo Kanté recovered the ball and Mason Mount picked it up, and drove towards the box to release Barkley. With a spin and touch that bamboozled his opponents, he touched it forward to Giroud.
The Frenchman let the ball run, waited for Craig Dawson’s challenge then struck it back across the defender and beyond Ben Foster, the ball squeezing in at the far post.
Barkley, starting his third Premier League game in a row for the first time since his move from Everton, is having a rewarding post-lockdown spell.
As is Chrisitan Pulisic, who was responsible for earning the penalty which delivered the second goal on 43 minutes, when he drove his way into the Watford box and headed for the byeline.
He caused enough panic for Etienne Capoué to charge at him and knock him to the ground, unnecessarily as he had team-mates covering.
Pulisic’s runs of late tend to induce this kind of fearful reaction for opponents. He is growing into his place in this Chelsea team.
Willian stepped up to take the penalty, confidently driving it to the right of Foster and leaving Watford somewhat lost in terms of strategy come half-time, as there now seemed little prospect of points from this game.
Nigel Pearson’s side plugged away but rarely threatened. Barkley grabbed a third goal in added time with a sumptuous strike into the top corner.
‘Time is not on our side but we did show good work ethic,’ said Hornets boss Pearson.