There’s little to no time to dwell on heartbreak during post-pandemic Premier League football, and that’s a good thing. It means Chelsea rushed to clear their conscience, correct their mistakes, and take on Watford on the Bridge, beating them 3-0 to bring us back to the top four after a couple of hours with Manchester United in our place.
Aiming to play our home edge by taking the initiative and hopefully earning a win to send Manchester United back to fifth in the Premier League, Chelsea dominated possession and opportunity for the most part in the First half. Only a couple of the latter were really good, with Ben Foster frustrating our attackers as he should do it at least twice a season.
The waterfall brought a welcome and immediate change of pace for the Blues. Two minutes after receiving further instructions from manager Frank Lampard, Mount, Barkley and Giroud combined to open the scoring on the Bridge.
Despair hit Watford hard, almost as hard as Étienee Capoue’s (?) Tackle in Pulisic’s penalty area that gave Willian his ninth league goal of the season. The Brazilian was cold as ice when shooting the target, easily taking Ben Foster out of the box to score the goal.
In the second half, Chelsea continued to dominate, although they were unable to create as many good opportunities as they did in the first half. But there was still time for a third goal, Ross Barkley’s first PL score this season to wrap up a great 90-minute performance by the Blues.
Carefree!
- Major changes to the lineup today, with César Azpilicueta moving to the left-back instead of Marcos Alonso, Reece James taking over as right-back and Kurt Zouma over Antonio Rüdiger. Mason Mount returns to midfield due to Mateo Kovacic’s absence due to injury (may he recover soon, hot knife!), While Olivier Giroud may start again with Tammy Abraham.
- The substitutes are Abraham for Giroud, Ruben Loftus-Cheek for Willian, Callum Hudson-Odoi for Mount and Billy Gilmour for N’Golo Kanté (who left the field with an apparent injury).
- Pulisic is a wonderful creature and we must protect him at all costs, including early substitutions.
- Let Willian see the light (and the benefits of staying at Chelsea for two more seasons).
- Next up: Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park for the Premier League.
- KTBFFH!
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