Match Summary
Chelsea saw out a cagey win against Championship side Watford thanks to goals from Willian, Remy and Zouma.
The Blues, who needed to recover from a heavy 5-3 defeat at Tottenham, put the fans through much anxiety with the deadlock only broken as we approached the hour mark. Before that, Watford proved resolute but it ended a canter for the hosts, with the scoreline deceptively flattering.
Mourinho has never rotated his squad much but a 5-3 burn-out at Tottenham suggested humans just are not mechanical robots. Whilst today’s side was much-rotated, it was no lacking in quality, captained by Didier Drogba, who has scored in four FA Cup finals for Chelsea.
But there was no spark for the Blues, whose season has stalled somewhat, particularly in the first half. Frustratingly, Watford had the best chance, with Deeney’s shot skimming agonisingly past the post. Drogba had a firm header well saved, but it was a tight affair.
There was no desire for a replay with the fixture list already piling up so it was no surprise to see Mourinho pair all Blues frontmen — Drogba, Costa and Remy — together in the second half, the latter occupying a wider role.
And this proved too much for the Watford defence to handle.
Willian, perhaps the most willing player to take a shot out of all Chelsea’s attacking midfielders, curled a delicious effort in from 22 yards.
The normally frugal Mourinho was not going to shut up shop, though, with his frustrations evident in the first half. Remy would at least put a smile on his manager’s face with a goal in the top corner, before Zouma rounded things off with a neat header from Azpilicueta’s pass.
Man of the Match
KURT ZOUMA: Hasn’t had much to shout about since joining Chelsea, resting as Chelsea’s third central defender, but showed his coming of age today. A good professional and, whenever he does get a game, usually performs well, rounding the afternoon off with Chelsea’s third. Cahill will be concerned. 7/10
Manager Reaction
Mourinho saw it as a game of two halves: “It was difficult. In the first half we didn’t play well and Watford were well-organised defensively. The second half was different, we gave a different dynamic to the game. We created and we deserve to win.”
Jokanovic was disappointed: “I can’t be happy because we lost the game, but my team made a good performance. We had good organisation, we played many minutes without the ball.”