Tag Archives: Chelsea

14th February 2009- FA Cup Fifth Round, Watford 1 Chelsea 3

Chelsea were given a huge fright in their first match since the departure of Luiz Felipe Scolari but a Nicolas Anelka hat-trick helped them bounce back to beat Watford 3-1 and advance to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Tamas Priskin gave the Hornets the lead after he sprung the offside trap to dink the ball over Petr Cech.

Watford had been pummelled for long periods, surrendered possession but defending wonderfully ruggedly to maintain parity, before Lloyd Doyley released Tamas Priskin.

A tremendous effort all round. Losing to Chelsea is no disgrace for a side at the bottom of the second division, and if we rode our luck more than once we also came close to levelling the game at 2-1 down. Lots of good individual performances… the wonderful Jenkins, rejuvenated Demerit, unrecognisable Priskin, bullish (!) McAnuff. But the team worked, for the most part.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%9309_FA_Cup#Fifth_Round_Proper

31st March 2007- Premier League, Watford 0 Chelsea 1

http://watford.fcdb.info?id=4753

For so long it seemed as though Chelsea’s challenge would founder at Vicarage Road after Watford battled manfully – and Kalou’s winner was a painful blow for the home team.

“You’re getting sacked in the summer,” chanted the home supporters as Mourinho paced up and down the touchline, unable to contain his frustration as Chelsea toiled against a spirited Watford side. Mourinho lost control of his emotions at one point in the second half; arguing with Boothroyd only to embrace the Watford manager later and share a joke. Abramovich appears in no mood to do likewise, even if he did manage to smile when Salomon Kalou struck.

The result leaves Watford needing a miracle, although Boothroyd has not thrown in the towel. ‘The other results haven’t helped us, but we shall try to finish the season as strongly as we can and see where it takes us,’ he said.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2007-03-31

https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/premier-league/31-march-2007/

14th January 2004- FA Cup Third Round Replay, Chelsea 4 Watford 0

Chelsea brushed aside Watford to book a fourth round tie with Scarborough.

The Watford manager Ray Lewington wished Scarborough good luck in a tone of comic pity, yet his own side took credit for the vim shown despite the unavailability of their injured forward Heidar Helguson. The Icelander was rumbustious in the 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road that had slotted into a sequence of troubled games for Chelsea.

This should be no surprise. After all, it’s what everyone expected to happen, what was tacitly being written into the history books before the game kicked off. The surprise was the draw in the first game, a game we might even have won… and the enormity of that achievement was only underlined by the degree to which we were ultimately outclassed in this replay.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2004-01-14

3rd January 2004- FA Cup Third Round, Watford 2 Chelsea 2

Watford produced an outstanding display to secure a lucrative FA Cup third round replay at Chelsea.

Rich pickings for Watford

Desailly left chasing shadows as Hornets provide the sting

Sunday Telegraph, 4 Jan 2004

Independent, 5 Jan 2004

Evening Standard, 5 Jan 2004

This was astonishing. I mean, it was many things, and you can find a convenient list under “magnificent” in your thesaurus. But it was astonishing, first and foremost. There will be some comments about how the performance throws the rest of our under-achieving season into sharp relief, but they’ll miss the point. The point being that we could not possibly have expected eleven players to over-achieve in such an extraordinary manner. Not to that extent. Not for that long. Way beyond “spirited”, this was a brief and tenuous, but very real, bridging of that impossible gulf. It happened. Even more remarkably, it happened for ninety minutes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003%E2%80%9304_FA_Cup

5th August 2003- Friendly, Watford 1 Chelsea 4

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BSAD report: You know a big team is in town when the unofficial merchandise stands are outside the ground, selling the latest moody tat to the most gullible members of the visiting support. When touts ask if you have any spare tickets (yeah, like a tout is going to make a killing on the mark-up of pre-season tickets. “How much, mate? Twenty notes? I’ll just go to the pub, then.”) and when the Chelsea TV cameras are out in force. The young presenter looked visibly bored as she attempted to engage a particularly half-witted individual in conversation about Damien Duff as I walked past.

26th February 2000- Premier League, Chelsea 2 Watford 1

https://www.watfordfcarchive.co.uk/fixture/2000-02-26

Daily Telegraph, 28 Feb 2000

Guardian, 28 Feb 2000

BSAD: We have played better this season, but only on two occasions. Even then, those performances did not have the courage in adversity that we showed on Saturday. That we trailed Chelsea for the majority of the game was not unexpected, that we still dominated and disturbed our illustrious opponents was, frankly, astounding. If ever there was a moral victory to be claimed, it was here.

BSAD: We responded in a style reminiscent of last season’s surge to Wembley. Refusing to acknowledge the plethora of stars on the other side we tore into them, giving everything in our artillery. Smart led the line superbly, his movement sharp and strength impressive. He was backed up by the excellent Hyde, who has shown in recent weeks that he really does have the ability to play, and play well, at this level. At the back Page, Gibbs and the imposing Williams looked composed and assured. We looked like we belonged in the Premiership.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2000-02-26

https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/premier-league/26-february-2000/