Jose Mourinho made eight changes to the starting line-up involved in the 3-5 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, and his Chelsea side required a while to settle down into the FA Cup third round fixture against Championship side Watford. The Chelsea midfield lacked cohesion in the midfield without their main players Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, and the first-half performance of the London side was a display in drabness.
Watford put up a spirited display and played pressing football throughout, coming close to opening the scoring when Troy Deeney’s hopeful shot only narrowly missed the goal after a deflection off Filipe Luis.
Substitute Willian scored the first goal of the match in the 58th minute, before Loic Remy’s impressive half-volley in the 70th minute tilted the tie conclusively in the Premier League side’s favour. Promising defender Kurt Zouma came up with a powerful header to further increase Chelsea’s lead – the 3-0 scoreline not doing justice to the resistance offered by Watford.