Guus Hiddink did not get the victory he would have hoped for after taking over from Jose Mourinho as the new manager, but Chelsea again showed signs of returning back to their old form in this English Premier League Boxing Day draw against Watford.
The match ended 2-2, after Diego Costa scored a double – the first time he has done that since January -- to cancel out strikes from Watford's deadly duo of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo, but it should have really gone Chelsea's way, with Oscar making a complete hash of a penalty.
Chelsea dominated large parts of the game, and deservedly took the lead on 32 minutes, with Diego Costa pouncing on a loose ball in the Watford penalty area before smashing the ball home.
However, Watford are not serious competitors for the Champions League places for nothing, and Quique Sanchez Flores' men got back into the match three minutes before halftime, with Deeney placing the ball into the net from the penalty spot after Nemanja Matic was pulled up for a hand ball.
The Watford comeback looked complete on 57 minutes when Ighalo, so brilliant for his team all season, got a huge slice of luck after his strike took a wicked deflection off Gary Cahill to wrong foot Thibaut Courtois and squirm into the net.
Chelsea might have fallen off following that goal a couple of weeks ago, but they kept their heads and got back into the game via Costa who scored on 63 minutes, latching onto a wonderful through ball from Willian before applying a nice finish.
The home team should have gotten all three points a little later, but Oscar lost his balance and skied his penalty after Eden Hazard was brought down by a crazy tackle from Valon Behrami.
