Late save denies Chelsea victory at Watford

Watford 0 Chelsea 0

A stunning 89th-minute stop by Heurelho Gomes denied Chelsea victory at Vicarage Road.

The former Tottenham keeper dived to his right to palm away Diego Costa’s header, having earlier produced a fine save from Branislav Ivanovic.

It meant Chelsea had to settle for a point which lifted them to 13th in the Premier League table and extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches.

They had to withstand a spell of first-half pressure, during which the dangerous Odion Ighalo missed a great chance for Watford when he was unable to connect properly with a header from Jose Holebas’ cross.

And Blues keeper Thibaut Courtois was called into action twice in quick succession before the break, gathering Sebastian Prödl’s firm header from Ben Watson’s corner and then keeping out Etienne Capoue’s shot following good work by José Manuel Jurado.

Chelsea responded with some pressure of their own and Cesc Fabregas’ fine ball found Costa, whose goal-bound shot was deflected inches wide by Hornets defender Craig Cathcart.

Watford were on the front foot again early in the second half, with Troy Deeney volleying just wide and Holebas firing into the second netting after going past John Obi Mikel.

Oscar was busy for the visitors, shooting narrowly wide and forcing a couple of decent saves from Gomes.

The 74th-minute introduction of Eden Hazard also gave Chelsea some impetus.

Hazard collected Willian’s pass and pulled the ball back for Ivanovic, whose shot was superbly saved by Gomes, who did even better when Costa looked certain to score.