Chelsea vs Watford result: Eden Hazard sparkles as Blues take huge step towards top four finish

Chelsea 3-0 Watford: The Belgian shone throughout with goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek, David Luiz and Gonzalo Higuain securing a comfortable win

It took Maurizio Sarri’s side 45 minutes to get going, but after overcoming half-time jeers, Chelsea finally hit their stride to move ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and into third place.

Having left the field at half-time to the sound of boos, Sarri’s side returned with two goals in three minutes at the start of the second half – both headers, the first from Ruben Loftus-Cheek followed by David Luiz’s effort – and wrapped up the win through Gonzalo Higuain’s late strike.

It wasn’t always convincing, but Sarri’s side – aiming to avoid a fourth Premier League without a win – eventually got the job done, taking advantage of Spurs’ slip at Bournemouth 24 hours earlier and delivering a timely boost ahead of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg with Eintracht Frankfurt. There was even time for Gary Cahill to make a late substitute appearance and say his farewell to Blues supporters ahead of his departure this summer.

Watford, impressive for long periods, will wonder how they failed to score while reflecting on the alarming concentration that during a spell that effectively cost them the game.

Sarri had made four changes to the side that drew 1-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt three days earlier with Eden Hazard returning to the line-up. The presence of the Belgian, though was not enough to spark life into a pedestrian display by the home side who could have been trailing by the interval.

Just eight minutes had elapsed when Watford first demonstrated their threat. Jose Holabas delivered a cross from the left towards Troy Deeney and it took an outstanding, on-handed save from Kepa to deny the forward’s powerful header.

Shortly afterwards, Gerard Deulofeu should have done much better than slice his left-foot shot wide after Chelsea were undone by a long punt forward from Watford keeper Ben Foster. And Abdoulaye Doucoure was similarly wasteful after getting the wrong side of Marcos Alonso, the Chelsea left-back.

With half an hour gone, Watford were the dominant side, quicker to the ball in the midfield area and alert to the danger when Chelsea did manage to advance into the visitors’ penalty area, notably when Adrian Mariappa reacted well to block Gonzalo Higuain’s shot on the turn.

An early injury to N’Golo Kante had led to the introduction of Loftus-Cheek in the 10th minute. The midfielder initially struggled to have the same impact he had had in Germany midweek but he was involved in the move that almost led to Chelsea’s taking the lead three minutes before the break.

Chelsea celebrate Higuain’s goal (REUTERS)

Loftus-Cheek played the ball into the feet of Pedro who exchanged a sharp one-two with Higuain on the edge of the Watford area before flashing a shot narrowly wide of Foster’s goal.

That, though, was not enough to satisfy the home crowd who voiced their displeasure as the teams left the field.

Watford had impressed during the first half, showing no signs of being distracted by their meeting with Manchester City in the FA Cup final. They undid all their previous good work, however, during a disastrous three minute spell at the start of the second half when they were undone by a Chelsea twice in three minutes.

The first, in the 48th minute, was played short to Eden Hazard who delivered a cross towards Loftus-Cheek who sent a downward header past Foster from eight yards out.

Loftus-Cheek drives on (AFP/Getty Images)

Watford failed to heed the warning and were undone in similar fashion moments later. This time the ball was delivered in directly from the set-piece and Luiz muscled his way past Mariappa before powering a header into the visitors’ net.

Gerard Deulofeu quickly attempted to bring Watford back into the game when he placed a shot narrowly past Kepa’s far post but the way in which Chelsea had established their two-goal meant there was little chance of a fightback. And any lingering hopes Javi Gracia’s side may have had disappeared when Higuain added the third, finishing with a first-time shot after his superbly timed run had been picked out by Pdero’s threaded pass.

It only added to Watford’s frustration that Isaac Success’s late header was ruled out for offside after striking the back of team-mate Andre Gray on it’s way in.

Deulofeu looks on dejected as Chelsea celebrate (Getty Images)

Chelsea (4-3-3): Kepa; Azpilicueta, Christensen Luiz, Alonso; Kante (Loftus-Cheek 10), Jorginho, Kovacic; Pedro, Higuain (Giroud 78), Hazard.

Subs: Caballero, Barkley, Zappacosta, Willian, Cahill.

Watford (4-4-2): Foster; Femenia, Cathcart, Mariappa, Holebas, Hughes, Doucoure, Chalobah (Cleverley 66), Pereyra; Deulofeu (Success 82), Deeney (Gray 82).

Subs: Gomes, Janmaat, Masina, Kabasele.