Sport: Local and national sport in and around Watford - Watford Observer

Chelsea vs Watford

• Kick off: 3:00pm Sun 3 Jan 10
• Referee: Kevin Friend
• Venue: Stamford Bridge

Final score:

Chelsea 5 - 0 Watford

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96:00: Final whistle Watford are comfortably beaten at Stamford Bridge by a Drogba and Anelka-less Chelsea. Watford can have no arguments with the result and it could have been much more

95:00: Malouda has a shot deflected wide and then he gets the ball back at the resulting corner and fires just wide from 20 yards

94:00: Final whistle Watford fans thought they may snatch a consolation in the dying minutes when Harley was through one-on-one but Harley's was not only offside, his shot was tipped on to the post by Hilario

92:00: Kakuta's dragged shot is almost diverted goalwards by Lampard

90:00: Five minutes of added time

89:00: Kakuta's pull back is played into the path of Ivanovic by Malouda and the right back fires a shot across goal and wide

88:00: Kakuta over-hits his cross to the far post and it goes straight out of play

86:00: Cole fires well over after turning insode the box

86:00: Yellow card Cleverley booked for a foul on Matic after a poor first touch

84:00: Jenkins tries to score from 30 yards but it is comfortably wide

82:00: A Malouda cross is hooked away by Mariappa

81:00: Yellow card Eustace booked for a badly timed challenge on Cole

80:00: Substitution Henderson and Harley on for Graham and Cowie

79:00: Matic tries an ambitious long-range effort but it was well wide

77:00: Kakuta whips in a dangerous inswinging cross but it is a little too high for Malouda

74:00: Substitution Controversial midfielder Kakuta comes on for Ashley Cole

74:00: Ivanovic has a go from just outside the box but his effort is comfortably wide

72:00: Graham thought he was through when Lansbury slipped him in but the offside flag was raised

70:00: Substitution Sturridge off for Borini

70:00: Yellow card Hodson booked

68:00: Goal! Ashley Cole picks out Sturridge in the box and the striker brought the ball down well and slipped it past Loach with the outside of his boot

65:00: Chelsea's 16th corner of the match was cleared by Eustace before Terry arrived

64:00: Substitution Matic on for Belletti

63:00: Goal! Lampard makes it four with an excellent 20 yard strike into the top corner

63:00: Sturridge is put through, he out paced Mariappa but his chip over Loach is saved and his follow up is deflected wide

61:00: Ashley Cole scoops a shot narrowly over the Watford bar from ten yards out

57:00: Eustace survives with no yellow card after a late tackle on Hilario

55:00: Zhirkov and Cole link up well on the left and Cole fires a shot wide of the far post

54:00: Lampard has a goal-bound shot blocked by the chest of Eustace

53:00: Arguably Watford's first real piece of attacking play. Graham flicks the ball down to Cleverley, the ball is taken off his foot and breaks to Lansbury but his shot is deflected wide and the corner is wasted

50:00: Chelsea win yet another corner. Lampard's delivery is only half cleared and Terry's volley is deflected wide by the backside of Eustace. The resulting delivery is missed by Loach as he tries to claim, Doyley scrambles the ball clear

45:00: Substitution Ross Jenkins returns in place of Severin. Severin had not started a game since August 22 and Jenkins has not featured since October 23

45:00: Half time and Watford deservedly 3-0 behind. The Hornets have created almost nothing and were constantly on the back foot

45:00: Malouda has a side deflected wide of the far post. The corner is headed on target by Terry but Doyley blocks on the line. Another Chelsea corner, this time Terry volleys it into the side netting

44:00: Watford fans sarcastically chant Ole as their side keep the ball but it only lasts a few moments before Doyley gives the ball away

43:00: Yellow card Joe Cole booked for a foul on Eustace

41:00: Yellow card Lansbury kicked Belletti after the ball went. The referee played on and Belletti ended up kicking through the back of Lansbury. Both players are booked

39:00: Watford's best chance falls to Graham as Lansbury picks him out with a cross but Graham completly misses the ball with his head

37:00: More excellent football from Chelsea results in Terry, up from the back, put Sturridge in behind and he flashed a shot wide of the far post

36:00: A Lampard through ball goes straight through to Loach

35:00: Lovely, quick two-touch football from Chelsea sees Lampard slip Sturridge in behind the defence but his cross is cut out by DeMerit before it reaches Malouda

34:00: Watford have another pot shot at goal from distance, this time from Cleverley, but again it was never going to trouble Hilario

32:00: Watford concede their tenth corner in little over half an hour but this time it is cleared

31:00: A Eustace clearance goes straight to Zhirkov 20 yards out and his first time shot goes over

29:00: Once again Watford waste the first spell of possession for some time with a ambitious long ball by Eustace

28:00: Chelsea try to be too clever with a free kick 30 yards out but Lampard gets the ball back and creates space for a shot but his chip went wide

26:00: Sturridge controls a cross in the box but DeMerit makes the tackle before he has the chance to shoot

23:00: You can count on one hand the amount of times Watford have been out of their own half

21:00: Goal! A speculative Malouda shot is deflected past Loach for Chelsea's third goal

21:00: Watford's first spell of passing is wasted by Severin who slices a 35 yard shot well wide

20:00: A Lampard corner is volleyed wide by Belletti from 35 yards

19:00: A Joe Cole corner is just tipped over the arriving heads by Loach and Lampard and Zhirkov's resulting shots are blocked

17:00: Chelsea win another corner and Malouda's delivery is headed goalwards by Ivanovic but LOach tips the ball over. Graham manages to clear the resulting corner

14:00: Goal! A Joe Cole cross is knocked back into the danger area by Mariappa and although Loach saved the first attempt, Eustace bundled the ball into his own net

12:00: A corner is taken quickly and Lampard's shot is parried away but Loach but only to Malouda who kicks the ball against his standing foot and it goes out for a goal kick

10:00: A Malouda free kick is only half cleared. Watford are camped in their half for some time and then Zhirkov picks out Sturridge at the back post and his knock down almost sees Alex bundle the ball home but DeMerit makes the interception

9:00: Lampard looked as though he was set to pull the trigger but passed to Sturridge and his flick didn't pay off

8:00: Watford work the ball well 40 yards out and Doyley is slipped in out wide but he scuffs his cross and it is cleared

7:00: Chelsea break and Watford do not close down Sturridge and he is able to shoot but it is well wide

5:00: Goal! A Lampard corner doesn't beat Cowie at first man. It is retaken and Alex heads it down, Terry volleys it goalwards and Sturridge diverts into the net

3:00: Joe Cole shows some trickery and then delivers a cross which is set to reach Sturridge but Eustace head out for a croner, which is cleared

0:00: The game has kicked off with Watford shooting from left to right

0:00: Watford boss Malky Mackay makes just the one change for this afternoon’s FA Cup third round clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but has intriguingly also changed the shape of his side. Following Heidar Helguson’s return to Queens Park Rangers, Scott Severin makes his first start for several months and will be one of two holding midfielders alongside John Eustace. Henri Lansbury, who is fit after sustaining a heavy knock in the 2-2 draw at Bristol City and extending his loan from Arsenal, is expected to operate behind loan striker Danny Graham, with Tom Cleverley and Don Cowie pulling the attacking strings from midfield. Young midfielder Ross Jenkins is also fit enough for a place on the bench after recovering from his back injury. Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was always going to have to make three changes from the team that beat Fulham 2-1 on Monday – with Didier Drogba, Jon Mikel Obi and Salomon Kalou now on African Cup of Nations duty – but he has chosen to make seven – and, very surprisingly, there is no place in the matchday 18 for the fit-again Nicolas Anelka. Petr Cech also misses out, while Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Ballack and Paulo Ferreira drop to the bench, and in come keeper Henrique Hilario, defenders Branislav Ivanovic, Alex and Ashley Cole, Juliano Belletti, Florent Malouda further forward and young striker Daniel Sturridge is up top. Chelsea: Hilario; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Belletti, Lampard, Zhirkov; Malouda, Sturridge, J Cole. Substitutes: Carvalho, Ballack, Ferreira, Turnbull, Matic, Kakuta, Borini. Watford: Loach; Hodson, Mariappa, DeMerit, Doyley; Cleverley, Eustace, Severin, Cowie; Lansbury, Graham. Substitutes: Jenkins, Harley, Lee, Bennett, Hoskins, Henderson, Kiernan.