Chelsea moved to within two points of champions Manchester City with a Tammy Abraham strike and a Pulisic effort handing the Blues a crucial 2-1 win over Watford at the Vicarage Road on Saturday evening.
Tammy Abraham became the first Chelsea player to score 10 goals across all competitions in the 2019/20 season, with his stabbed fifth minute finish – as well as a Christian Pulisic tap-in – the difference as Chelsea ensured that the Hornets’ miserable campaign continued.
The Hornets rallied late on, with Gerard Deulofeu netting a late penalty kick, but it was a little too late as the hosts remained rooted to the foot of the EPL table after a winless campaign so far.
The Blues got off to a great start when Jorginho played a lovely ball in behind the Watford defence for Abraham to run onto and fire it into the back of the net.
Jorginho first-times a pass in behind the Watford backline which Tammy Abraham runs onto and lobs over the onrushing keeper. 0-1. #CFC https://t.co/4fvJkECvzU
— amadí (@amadoit__) November 2, 2019
However, they could and should have been further ahead, but Foster produced three fantastic saves to deny Abraham, Pulisic and Mount.
Frank Lampard’s men started the second half well again and within ten minutes of the restart were two goals to the good. Willian received the ball in the middle of the park and laid it out wide to Abraham, who drilled it into the six-yard box for Pulisic to tap home from just a couple of yards out.
Willian to Tammy to Pulisic! Well worked goal 👏 #CFC
— CFC-Blues (@CFCBlues_com) November 2, 2019
With more than an hour gone, Abraham missed a really good chance to make it 3-0. The striker dribbled into the box, getting away from a couple of Watford players, but his shot was just blocked in time by Mariappa. The resulting corner also yielded nothing.
Yet, the Blues were not letting up and Mason Mount should have gotten his name on the score sheet but his shot, though on target, lacked the pace to beat Foster, who made a comfortable save.
However, Watford had no plans to go down without a fight and with less than ten minutes left on the clock, the hosts were given a lifeline.
The referee initially ignored Deulofeu’s penalty appeals after the tricky winger went down due to a Jorginho challenge in the box but VAR overuled the original decision by the referee after a lengthy delay.
The former Barcelona winger sent Kepa the wrong way and coolly slot the ball into the back of the net, to half the deficit.
Watford piled on the pressure but there was to be no further drama as Chelsea saw out yet another win to tighten their grip on third spot on the log.
