Guus Hiddink acknowledges Memphis Depay and others must adapt to Premier League

A Diego Costa double was cancelled out by strikes from Hornets forward pair Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo to ensure the sides would share the spoils in the capital.

On the match itself, Hiddink added: “The way the players reacted to conceding those two goals was excellent”. Beyond Costa’s fourth-minute header, from Pedro’s cross, a goalscoring threat was minimal and so they had to settle for a point. They brought on John Obi Mikel and created a good balance in defence and attack.

Hazard, who limped away from Stamford Bridge after being fouled for the late penalty that Oscar missed, and Remy, who was an unused -substitute because he was carrying a knock, both face fitness tests. Deeney calmly placed his effort down the middle as Thibaut Courtois dived to the bottom left, and Watford assumed the momentum.

With Manchester United on the ropes after four consecutive losses, they are there for the taking.

Raheem Sterling, Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony all struck in the opening 23 minutes before Kevin De Bruyne got in on the act early in the second half when Kompany was still on the bench. It should have posed little threat, but instead took a heavy deflection off Cahill and went sailing in beyond Courtois’ reach in the 56th minute.

“I like this mentality but I say to them that a draw is a good result because Chelsea played really well”. If he maintains this form, he still has a future in London.

“We had a penalty which we didn’t score, we were unlucky”. It was hard to blame him given he slipped, but it was a chance to secure victory and he wasted it. A win could have done so much for Chelsea’s confidence.

Both sides had their share of chances throughout the match but the big talking point will no doubt be Oscar’s awful penalty miss which could have well seen out the match for new manager Guus Hiddink. The reigning champions will continue to improve.

Quique Sanchez Flores expects to face a reinvigorated Chelsea when he takes Watford to Stamford Bridge.

A draw means they will have to win half of their remaining 20 games to meet boss Garde’s survival target of 10 victories. That tackle was among the worst of this season.

Costa was clearly itching to take it, but the nominated penalty taker stepped up.