Watford v Chelsea player ratings
Eden Hazard scored a goal in each half as to take his Chelsea tally to 101 and earn a battling win over Watford. Here’s how we rated each Blues player in the game at Vicarage Road.
Kepa Arrizabalaga: 7
Made a shocking early attempt to pass the ball out that could easily have led to a goal, but then made three decent saves when rushing from his goal, notably when thwarting Abdoulaye Doucoure in the first half.
Cesar Azpilicueta: 7
Azpilicueta spent most of his time in the opposition half, taking up some cute positions and delivering a couple of exquisite crosses in a typically reliable and efficient performance.
David Luiz: 8
A wonderful first-half block prevented Troy Deeney from side-footing Watford ahead and his decision making was exemplary, getting rid when he needed to but more often than not using the ball calmly to set up attacks from deep.
Antonio Rudiger: 6
He got out-muscled by Deeney on a couple of occasions and was not at his convincing best, but made some important tackles and vital covering runs.
Marcos Alonso: 6
Chelsea’s left-back made many a sortie forward without receiving the ball in a telling position. Alonso had a few problems dealing with Watford’s pace out wide but stuck to his task well.
Jorginho: 7
He made a crucial block to keep out Doucoure’s goalbound strike in a smart defensive display that offered good protection, while also bringing a return to the offensive play that saw him key to Chelsea’s bright beginning to the season. Jorginho’s pass that led to Hazard’s penalty was exquisite.
Mateo Kovacic: 8
Kovacic found a good amount of room playing centrally, teeing up Hazard for the first goal and finding pockets of space throughout. The Croatian was neat, tidy and always involved.
N’Golo Kante: 7
Another more than adequate showing by the World Cup winner, but Kante’s undoubted talents simply seem wasted when playing as an attacking midfielder. A sensational give-and-go with Hazard saw him through on goal but he shot narrowly wide. That said his pace and tireless running almost saw him get on the end of a lovely Luiz through-ball after the interval.
Pedro: 7
A pest of a performance from the Spaniard who was unfortunate not to score with a decent early curled effort and was busy and effective before a hamstring injury saw him replaced late in the first half.
Willian: 7
Almost scored when he went past keeper Ben Foster but hit the outside of the post and later skimmed the outside of the post after good work by Hazard.
Eden Hazard: 9
The Belgian was once again used as a central attacker, posing his usual threat when turning and running at defenders. His advanced role freed up plenty of space for Willian, Pedro and Kovacic and Chelsea’s best attacking player became increasingly influential scoring a sensational opener. He did miss a simple chance to tap in his from a delightful first-half cross from Azpilicueta before his 100th Chelsea goal, but made amends with the run that led to his calm penalty finish for his 101st.
Callum Hudson-Odoi: 6
A steady performance from the teenager, who played within himself after coming on. Hudson-Odoi still made a good contribution to the win before he was replaced late on as Chelsea looked to close the game out.
