Chelsea’s second half performance was enough to see them through to the fourth round of the FA Cup as they disposed of Championship side Watford.
With his mind surely still casting over the shock loss to Tottenham three days ago, Mourinho made some key changes as Remy and Drogba both started and Zouma and Filipe Luis lined up in defense.
The first half barely threw up any action worth reporting as it seemed Chelsea’s festive hangover had continued into it’s second game.
Drogba and Remy both had weak attempts saved and Watford had a couple of efforts themselves, but nothing that Petr Cech, in for the injured Courtois, couldn’t comfortably deal with.
Andre Schurrle had another poor 45 minutes which would eventually see him dragged off at halftime by Mourinho for his second start in a row. Kurt Zouma was the standout man for Chelsea as he continues to put is consistent cup performances which Mourinho surely cannot ignore.
Watford would have one more effort before halftime through Odion Ighalo but the team’s went in goalless at the break, and not even the most optimistic Chelsea fan could argue with the scoreline at this point.
A double change during the interval seemed to spark Chelsea into life, with the below-par Schurrle being replaced by Willian and Diego Costa coming on in place of Oscar.
It still took twelve minutes for the Chelsea pressure to eventually pay off as Willian scored a stunner to ease a bit of pressure on the home side and give Mourinho to appreciate, if not smile at, at last.
While Blues fans had Willian to thank for the breakthrough, Petr Cech showed what he can still do with a brilliant save from a deflected Troy Deeney effort two minutes before the goal came for the hosts.
Watford’s attempts to get back into the cup-tie involved being Matej Vydra on in place of Odion Ighalo but it was to no avail as Chelsea scored two quick fire goals ten minutes after their opener, with Loic Remy and the solid Kurt Zouma getting on the score sheet.
This wrapped it up for Chelsea who couod now enjoy the remaining twenty minutes or so, giving Nathan Aké a chance to come on and stake a claim to be involved more often with the first team.
However, it was a reasonably event-free closing period to the game as Chelsea sailed into the next round, with their second half performance masking what was otherwise another poor display for their fans to put up with.
Nonetheless, Chelsea will be in the hat for Monday’s draw after getting their FA Cup campaign off to a winning start at Stamford Bridge today.
Chelsea 3-0 Watford – Match facts and stats
- Chelsea last failed to score in an FA Cup tie at home in March 1999
- Chelsea’s first effort on target of the game came in the 28th minute
- Chelsea – Watford stats: Shots: 16-11. On target: 6-6. Corners: 4-5. Possession: 51%-49%
Chelsea’s centre-backs (Terry, Cahill, Zouma) have scored 8 goals this season across all comps, or 1 more than Falcao + Balotelli combined.
— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) January 4, 2015
