Thomas Tuchel: 'Chelsea stole three points from Watford'

Head coach Thomas Tuchel has acknowledged that Chelsea were a shadow of their normal selves as they recorded a 2-1 victory over Watford on Wednesday night.

After a medical emergency had delayed the game by almost 30 minutes, goals from Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech earned the Premier League leaders all three points at Vicarage Road.

Despite being relieved with the win, Tuchel was critical of his team's performance, claiming that they had 'stolen' the points off a Hornets side who could have been ahead at the break.

Speaking to Amazon Prime, the German said: "That's not us. We were absolutely not ready today for this match. I missed maybe to find the right approach to make my team ready. We had the break due to very sad circumstances – hopefully the person is better. Even this break after the first 11 minutes did not change our approach. We did not cope with the pressure, with the first ball, second ball.

"We had a lot of changes but too many faults. It did not get better. The only thing we could do was hang in there and focus on the easy things. It was a lucky win.

"[Kai] Havertz was very strong today. I felt he was the one player reaching his level today. We missed some players. We had some players overloaded. We stole three points. We don't have to talk around it. For the first time it feels like a lucky win."

Chelsea have retained their one-point advantage over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League standings.