Chelsea’s Eden Hazard reaches century of goals to break Watford resolve

 
A match of constant action and frequent error was decided by two goals from its outstanding performer, Eden Hazard often floating around the fringes of the game but always at the very heart of Chelsea’s finest attacking endeavours. He scored his 100th goal for the club in first-half stoppage time, set off on the path to his second century with a penalty in the 58th minute, and had his teammates been able to shoot as precisely as the Belgian he might have had a hat-trick of assists as well.

For all his excellence Hazard was also guilty of the game’s most glaring miss, letting César Azpilicueta’s driven cross pass through his legs as he attempted a clever flick when any kind of contact would have given his side a first-half lead. But it seems churlish to criticise a player who despite his team’s unconvincing recent form has now claimed five assists and three goals in his last six league matches.

 Chelsea were a little tentative at the start, though Pedro curled a shot narrowly wide from outside the area after three minutes. The first decent chance they created was for the wrong side, Kepa Arrizabalaga casually side-footing a pass straight to Gerard Deulofeu in the ninth minute. Facing away from goal when he got it under control, the Spaniard attempted to backheel to Troy Deeney and succeeded only in skewing it to Antonio Rüdiger. Thirty seconds later the visitors might have taken the lead.

Play moved briskly upfield, Hazard released Willian and the Brazilian went past Ben Foster, who had advanced from his line in search of the ball before stopping when he realised he would be beaten to it, only to shoot against the outside of the post from an acute angle. Watford’s Christian Kabasele also collided with the post as he attempted to ensure the ball did not roll the wrong side of it, sustaining in the process an injury that was to end his evening prematurely.

A combination of Arsenal’s failure to beat Brighton and Manchester United’s recent resurgence made this game an opportunity for Chelsea both to open up a small gap over the Gunners and to keep Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side at a comfortable distance. But though their approach play was reasonable there was too much imprecision to their first-half play for them to regularly penetrate the rejigged home back line.

So while Chelsea dominated possession, it was Watford who had the better first-half chances. Abdoulaye Doucouré played a smart one-two with Deulofeu before cutting inside and shooting into Jorginho, then the French midfielder shot wide after being set up by Roberto Pereyra, and Deulofeu intercepted Jorginho’s pass before setting up Deeney, whose shot flew straight into David Luiz.