By Daily Sports on August 21, 2016

Antonio Conte won the battle of two old Serie A adversaries as Chelsea came from behind to beat Walter Mazzarri's Watford 2-1 on Saturday thanks to Diego Costa's latest last-gasp winner.

Etienne Capoue put Watford ahead after 55 minutes with his second goal of the season, but Michy Batshuayi equalised in the 80th minute with his first goal for Chelsea, six minutes after coming off the bench, thanks to an error by Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.

And Spain striker Costa won it with three minutes to go at Vicarage Road after a fine pass from another substitute, Cesc Fabregas.

If Fabregas had a point to make after failing to make Conte's starting line-up for either of the first two matches, then he may consider it made, having also played a part in Batshuayi's equaliser.

Conte and Mazzarri, who had a frosty relationship when they managed Juventus and Napoli respectively in Italy, are animated performers in the technical area and not even some unseasonal rain put them off as they both spent most of the match on their feet.

But Conte won the battle in the end, even if a draw might have been a fairer result on the balance of play.

Watford paraded new signings Roberto Pereyra, a £13 million capture from Juventus, and Isaac Success before the match.

They and Younes Kaboul, who joined on Friday from Sunderland, may reflect that their extra quality might convert results such as this into better outcomes for their new team.

Jose Holebas had the first serious shot at goal after seven minutes, advancing from his left wing-back position to meet a diagonal pass with a low angled half-volley that goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had to block with his feet.

Premier League champions Leicester City and last season's runners-up Arsenal remain without a win this season after a slow-burning 0-0 draw at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Beaten 2-1 at promoted Hull City last weekend, Leicester avoided the ignominy of becoming the first English champions to lose their first two games since Aston Villa in 1981.

But Claudio Ranieri's side were frustrated by two unsuccessful penalty shouts – one in each half – and also lost full debutant Nampalys Mendy to an apparent ankle injury.

Arsenal looked far more robust than the team beaten 4-3 by Liverpool a week ago and were able to welcome back Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud from their post-Euro 2016 breaks.

But with the season only two games old, both Arsene Wenger's men and Leicester are already five points off the pace set by Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Hull.

Ranieri had given starts to Demarai Gray and new signings Luis Hernandez and Ahmed Musa at Hull, but he reverted to last season's formula for the visit of Arsenal, three months on from his side's title coronation.

Robert Huth returned from suspension in place of Hernandez, along with Marc Albrighton and Shinji Okazaki, and Mendy stepped into the midfield hole created by N'Golo Kante's move to Chelsea.

With Arsenal dominating possession on a blustery East Midlands afternoon, it also allowed Leicester to adopt the counter-attacking formula that saw them storm the table in the first half of last season.

Arsenal were reduced to potshots, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, in for the injured Alex Iwobi, curling wide and Santi Cazorla, who replaced the hamstrung Aaron Ramsey, shooting straight at Kasper Schmeichel.

The first moment of contention in the Arsenal box occurred late in the half, after Petr Cech had saved at the feet of Jamie Vardy.

•Text from Reuters. Photo shows Diego Costa.

Source Daily Sports

Posted August 21, 2016

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