Watford condemned 10-man Chelsea to their second consecutive loss in the Premier League after netting four past the champions at Vicarage Road on Monday night.
Just days after Chelsea suffered a 3-0 loss to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge, Antonio Conte was forced to watch on as Tiemoue Bakayoko was sent off for two bookable offences in just the 30th minute before the visitors then gave away a penalty.
The spot-kick was awarded for Thibaut Courtois’ foul on Gerard Deulofeu in the box, which Deeney converted in the 42nd minute to score his fourth goal in all competitions this season.
But Chelsea then capitulated – letting in three goals by Daryl Janmaat, Deulofeu and Roberto Pereyra to lose 4-1 and remain in fourth place in the Premier League standings, one point above Tottenham.
Chelsea came into the game at Vicarage Road under intense pressure not to drop more points after they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 at home to relegation-battlers Bournemouth in midweek.
Yet, the manner of the Blues’ start against Watford showed they were still suffering from the ill effects of that defeat – with Bakayoko, in particular, putting in one of his worst performances since joining Chelsea for £40m last summer.
