Maurizio Sarri Compares Eden Hazard to Lionel Messi After Belgian Scores 100th Chelsea Goal

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has admitted he was pleased with his side's performance in the 2-1 victory over Watford, before comparing match winner Eden

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has admitted he was pleased with his side's performance in the 2-1 victory over Watford, before comparing match winner Eden Hazard to Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

Chelsea found clear-cut chances hard to come by against a resilient Hornets defence, but Hazard put in a performance of the highest quality as he netted two goals either side of half-time to earn all three points for the Blues and ensure they recovered from a frustrating home defeat to Leicester City.

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👌 @hazardeden10 pic.twitter.com/BHlblU9Mdx

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 26, 2018

Speaking after the match, Sarri confessed he was impressed with his side's response to defeat. He is quoted by football.london as saying: "Against Leicester the mentality was good, but the reaction to the negative situation was wrong. Very well in the approach and the level of the determination for 90 minutes. 

"Maybe we played in quality against Leicester, but today we had much better application for the 90 minutes.

"[Hazard] is very important for us. Messi is very important for Barcelona, Hazard scored twice today. He is very able to open space for the team mates and can be very well."

Youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi was introduced to the match early before half-time following an injury to Pedro. He showed glimpses of his impressive potential, but was substituted towards the end of the match, much to the frustration of a vocal section of Chelsea supporters.

Richard Heathcote/GettyImages

However, Sarri insisted that the decision was not personal and was instead dictated by injury. He said: "[Hudson-Odoi]  played very well for 55 minutes, he had a hamstring problem a week ago and ten minutes to go he had some pain, so we decided to change.

"I can understand, but there wasn’t another solution. It was too dangerous."